Yu-Gi-Oh! Reversal: Duelist Kingdom
by supertinagirl6
Summary: A Yugioh Swap, Duels written by co-writer dragonicdevil: Jaden Yuki's life changed upon solving the Millennium Puzzle and coming in contact with the amnesiac spirit Haou. Things get worse when Vellian Crowler forces him to participate in the Duelist Kingdom tournament. With his friends by his side, Jaden and Haou face challenges as they face many duelists from around the world.
1. Chapter 1 - Fateful Duel

Yu-Gi-Oh! Reversal

Chapter 1

"And that's game!", a fifteen-year-old with brown hair announced proudly.

At Domino High, a couple of teenage boys had finished up a game of Duel Monsters. The boy with brown hair flashed a bright grin; dressed in the school's red uniform with a black shirt. Lightly swaying around his neck, hanging by a rope, was an assembled puzzle designed to look like the head of a trident. At the center was the symbol of an eye with a blue gem serving as the eyeball. Seated across him was a shorter bespeckled boy with blue hair, sporting the same red uniform.

The blue-haired boy sighed with a frown, glancing down at the trading cards still tightly clutched in his hands.

"Steamrolled again. I don't understand how you keep doing it. Shouldn't I be getting better at this game?" he groaned.

Jaden Yuki laughed whilst giving his friend a smirk.

"Come on, Sy. You know what I always say. It doesn't matter who wins or lose, the best part of a duel is the fun to be had." he insisted.

Syrus Truesdale pursed his lips in response; his grey eyes silently glancing down at the cards. He was about to respond when the school bell began to ring. Knowing it was time to return to class, he packed up his cards and bid his friend goodbye.

While Jaden's smile remained on his face, a part of him felt concerned for his friend. He could see the teen had potential in the card game, but only if he stopped being disturbed over his loses.

He found himself stirred from his thoughts by a voice asking, "So, I see you and Syrus had another duel. How did it go?"

Turning around, Jaden came face to face with a teen with wild teal hair and green eyes.

The brunette allowed a chuckle to escape his mouth before replying, "As you can guess Jesse, I still managed to win. But Sy is getting better, I just wish he could realize that and have fun."

Jesse Anderson nodded his head in agreement as he sat down at his desk. Much like his friend, he chose to focus more on the fun aspect of dueling rather than the competition. it was this shared love for dueling that they became fast friends at the beginning of the school year. Leaning slightly back in his chair, his eyes scanned each of the students that entered the classroom, searching for one in particular. After a few minutes, he finally saw a girl with dirty-blonde hair and wearing the blue girl school uniform enter.

Following a nudge of his elbow, he teasingly told Jaden that his girlfriend had arrived.

Jaden rolled his eyes in exasperation and laughed in response.

"Very funny, Jesse, but Alexis and I are friends, remember? Besides, she'll strangle you if she heard you." he stated.

"You got that right." a female voice spoke up.

The two teenage boys turned back to see that they had failed to notice Alexis Rhodes was standing behind them during their short spat, prompting them to grin nervously.

The teenage girl shook her head, doing her best to hide away the smile that threatened to creep onto her face. She absolutely adored her two friends, but had to admit their antics could get on her nerves at times. Fortunately, she understood it was all in good fun. Besides, she couldn't be angry at Jesse's joke, especially since Jaden never reacted to it with anger nor disgust.

Without another word, the three friends fell into a comfortable silence as the teacher finally entered the room. Jaden did his best to pay attention to the teacher's words, but quickly found himself growing wozzy as usual. A small yawn escaped his mouth as he rested his chin on his hand, allowing his mind to wander in order to think of new ways to accomplish his goal of inspiring Syrus.

Meanwhile, Syrus was rushing through the hallways, not wishing to be late and receive scoldings from the teacher. His eyes shined with hope and relief when he noticed his class was only a short ways ahead. But before he could reach the doorway, he felt a firm grip latch onto his shoulder. The teen yelped in surprise as his body was pulled backwards. He was about to demand his captor to release him, but froze when he saw who it was. Standing in front of him was an older teen with dark hair and icy blue eyes. The blue-haired boy couldn't help but swallow nervously. The teen before him was his none other then his older brother, Zane Truesdale.

"Zane, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be down at the first floor with the other Third Years?" he questioned.

Zane's blue eyes narrowed slightly, his grip on his brother's shoulder tightening minutely.

"From what I've heard, you've still been dueling with that Jaden Yuki. I thought I told you that you would learn nothing from him. Tell me, among the countless matches you've had against him, have you ever won a single one?" he said in a stern tone.

"Well no, but Jaden says it doesn't matter who wins or loses, having fun is more important." Syrus answered.

Upon hearing this, the dark-haired teen sneered in disgust. He had never heard of such a, what he considered to be, ridiculous ideology. In his mind, victory obtained through ruthless and efficient methods was the most important factor in duels. The fact his sibling refused to accept this mindset was baffling to him.

Silence managed to hang in the air between the two teens for a few moments, creating a tense atmosphere.

The tensity remained, until finally, Zane spoke up "This Jaden Yuki is filling your mind with ridiculous thoughts. As your elder brother, it is my duty to correct this. From now onwards you are to remain clear of him and never come into contact with him ever again."

Syrus couldn't believe what he was hearing. Acting on instincts alone, he tried to object his brother's words. Unfortunately, his objection shattered when the older teen made it clear it wasn't a request. Sadness and resignation filled his heart whilst he lowered his head. Through the heartbreak, he couldn't help but wonder why his brother carried such hateful thoughts.

Later that day, school had finally ended. As Jaden left the school building, he managed to spot Syrus from the corner of his eye. Wishing to chat with his friend, he called out to him while waving. But much to his surprise, when the blue-haired teen spotted him, he quickly turned away and took off running. This both puzzled and confused the brunette. Fortunately, he noticed Zane Truesdale walk past him.

Hoping the older brother had answers, he stopped him by asking "Hey Zane, is there something wrong with Syrus? I called out to him but he ran away."

Allowing an annoyed sigh to escape his lips, the seventeen year-old turned toward the teen he currently despised.

"Nothing is wrong, I simply made it clear to him that he's not to see you again. You're clearly a terrible influence on him, making him spout nonsense about dueling." he answered in a hateful tone.

Jaden's brown eyes widened in shock. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Within seconds, the shock transformed into justified rage.

"You can't be serious! You're seriously refusing to let Sy hang out with me because of a stupid thing like that? Why would you even need to do that?!" he exclaimed.

Zane simply groaned in response, growing more annoyed at the teen's presence with each passing second. Not wishing to hear anymore arguments, he pushed the teen to the side and began to walk away. But he was only able to take a few steps until something caused him to stop, a challenge to a duel. Spinning on his heel, he raised a brow in surprise to see the determined expression painted on the brunette's face.

"It's clear that the only way to get through to you is by dueling." Jaden stated, "So here's the deal. If I win, you'll let Syrus do what he wants. If you win, then I'll stay away from Syrus."

The dark-haired teen hummed as he closed his eyes in thought. Weighing his options, he could see the benefit in a duel. Not only could he ensure the young teen would stay away from his brother, but he could also show his brother how flawed Jaden's ideology to have fun while dueling was. After some thought, he reopened his blue eyes with a hint of malice and ruthlessness dwelling within them. Seeing no downside to it, he decided to accept the challenge.

"Eight o'clock tonight. Arrive at the entrance of Truesdale Corp. Do not be late." he said, making sure his tone remained neutral.

With that said, he finally walked away, awaiting the moment he could finally crush the brunette with his method of dueling.

Jaden watched Zane as he left with a serious expression on his face, he knew that this would be the toughest duel he had ever had and that his odds of winning weren't good, however he also knew he had to win it if he wanted to continue being friends with Syrus.

Jaden's eyes then widened when he suddenly heard a stern voice in his head, " _This guy is a dangerous opponent, you should've heard about his reputation from when he participated in the Underground Dueling circuit, you should let me face him."_

His eyes narrowed and then snapped shut momentarily as he replied calmly, _"I don't think so, I challenged Zane to a duel in order to protect my friendship with Sy and I also hope that I can make Zane stop being so ruthless and enjoy dueling a bit, which means I need to duel him, not you."_

Waiting a few seconds, he finally heard the unchanging voice respond _"Very well, I shall let you duel him and prove your skills. You are almost ready to become a pro. However, I'll tell you this now, if it looks like you're about to lose the duel against Zane, I'll take over no matter what you say."_

The brunette sighed when he heard that, however the next moment he heard another voice call out to him, "Jaden!"

Jaden turned his head around and saw Alexis come running towards him with a smile on her face. Alexis stopped next to him, happily suggesting "Let's go home together again today Jaden". The fifteen year-old smiled at her, they usually walked home from school every day. However, he never complained about it since he enjoyed her company.

Alexis then looked around with a confused expression on her face, noting "Wait, where is Syrus? He usually wants to walk home with you as well".

Jaden hunched his shoulders and lowered his gaze towards the ground. Doing his best to push back the anger threatening to simmer to the surface, he began in a low tone "Alexis, I have something I need to tell you". The blonde looked at her friend with a troubled expression on her face. He usually didn't speak with such a serious voice, and she knew that it couldn't mean anything good.

Later that evening, Zane stood outside the entrance of Truesdale Corp with a nervously fidgeting Syrus next to him, Zane had told him to come with him to Truesdale Corp since he needed to see something which had warned him that something was wrong. When his sibling did something like this, it never meant anything good. Looking down at the ground, he briefly glanced up at his brother's face in uncertainty. However the older teen ignored him and looked forward.

Syrus was about to glance back toward the ground until he saw Zane narrow his eyes whilst smirking "Finally".

The blue-haired teen was confused by this. But then he looked forward, and gasped in shock upon seeing Jaden and Alexis walking towards them. "Jaden? Alexis? Why are the two of you two here?" he exclaimed in a mixture of panic and worry.

Alexis glared at Zane in disappointment, noting bitterly "I see that you didn't tell Syrus about the fact that Jaden challenged you to a duel in order to protect his friendship with Sy."

Syrus's eyes widened in shock and quickly turned towards Jaden, immediately begging "Jaden you can't! Some of Zane's opponent's quit dueling after facing him! I don't want you to have to go through that experience for me!"

Jaden smiled at his worried friend, reassuring him in his usual carefree tone "Don't worry Sy, I'm going to give this duel everything I have and enjoy it as much as I can".

Turning towards Zane, his grin only faltered slightly as he continued, "Alright then, let's find a table so that we can duel".

However the older teen smirked, mocking in an arrogant tone. "Please, do you think I would've told you to come here if we would only use a table? No, I'm going to show you the true terror of Duel Monsters!"

Syrus looked at his brother with wide eyes. "Zane, you don't mean…" he began, only to trail off. Just based on his big brother's expression, he could see that he was guessing correctly.

Zane turned around and the automatic doors opened. "Follow me." he commanded in a snappy manner. He entered the doors leading into the Truesdale Corp dorms with Jaden close behind him. Alexis followed closely behind with a terrified Syrus walking next to her.

A few moments later, the two duelists were standing on two platforms with a digital card display on front of them while Alexis and Syrus stood next to the field. The blue-haired teen looked worryingly at his friend. Jaden and Zane each placed a metal band around their right arms that was attached to the platforms.

Zane took out his deck and placed it in the deck slot; his voice brimming with confidence as he said "Alright, let's begin Yuki, so I can crush you and your stupid beliefs that dueling is supposed to be fun".

Jaden placed his deck in the deck slot as well whilst refusing to let his smirk fade, stating with his own confident tone "I don't think so Zane, I'm going to show you just how fun dueling can be; the excitement the duelists feel when they clash with each other".

The dark-haired teen narrowed his eyes as the two both drew their first five cards. He looked at his hand before he looked at his opponent. "You'll take the first move Yuki." he announced, his neutral tone refusing to give any insight to his possible strategies.

The fifteen year-old narrowed his eyes slightly in thought, _"If he wants me to start, it must mean that he has at least one Cyber Dragon in his hand, since Cyber Dragon can be special summoned if I control a monster and he doesn't."_

Placing his fingers on his deck and brimming with excitement, he announced "It's my move then, I draw". Jaden drew his sixth card and looked at it. He added it to his hand before grabbing another card from his hand and placed it on the table, "Now I summon Lancer Lindwurm in attack mode".

His eyes widened in shock when he saw a green light appeared in front of him and, suddenly, a green dragon in yellow armor with a double lance appeared on the field, Atk: 1800.

Alexis placed her hands on the railing with a shocked expression on her face, exclaiming "Lancer Lindwurm really appeared on the field?!"

Syrus nodded his head even though he knew that she wouldn't notice it. "Yeah, as one of the biggest gaming companies in the world, Truesdale Corp has been focusing on improving the game of Duel Monsters, and the next step was with virtual simulators." the young teen explained. Alexis looked at him shocked when she heard that.

Zane looked over at Jaden who just stared at Lancer Lindwurm amazed. "Thanks to the virtual simulator developed by Truesdale Corp, the monsters the duelists summons will appear on the field as holograms with life imitating abilities, getting scared yet Yuki?" he taunted.

The brunette turned his attention back toward his opponent. A huge grin appeared on his face as he shouted "Getting scared? You're kidding right? Now I'm even more excited to duel against you than I was before!"

Looking down at his hand, he grabbed a card in his hand, announcing "Next I place one card face down and end my turn". The spot behind Lancer Lindwurm then glowed green as a large upside down card appeared in mid air.

Alexis sighed with a fond smile "I should've known, obviously Jaden would get really excited over the idea of getting to see the monsters he summons fight."

Syrus turned his gaze to Zane with a worried expression on his face, allowing his thoughts to be his silent opinion, _"Yeah and normally I would agree with him, but right now his opponent is Zane and I'm sure he decided to use the virtual stadium in order to completely crush Jaden's dueling spirit. I just hope that he hasn't added that addition he planned on adding."_

Turning his eyes towards Jaden, he bit his lip as he continued, _"However considering they placed those metal bands on their arms, I'm afraid he must have, which means bad news for Jaden."_

Zane placed his fingers on his deck, his neutral tone now threatening with dark undertones as he announced "It's my turn now". He drew his sixth card and looked at it and narrowed his eyes before he placed it in his hand and grabbed another card, "Now since you have a monster on your side of the field and I don't I can special summon Cyber Dragon in attack mode". A green light appeared on his field and then a metallic snake like dragon appeared on the field with a roar, Atk: 2100.

The fifteen year-old narrowed his eyes, _"I knew it! He had a Cyber Dragon in his hand, I need to end this quickly before he manages to summon one of his two ace monsters, and I really hope he doesn't draw one of those Cyberdark cards since it will then be able to use any level 4 or below dragons in our graveyards."_

Zane pointed at Lancer Lindwurm, "Now Cyber Dragon, attack his Lancer Lindwurm with Strident Blast!" Cyber Dragon roared before he unleashed a blue beam from his mouth which hit Lancer Lindwurm and destroyed him while Jaden shielded his face, Jaden LP: 4000-3700.

He pointed at Jaden with a dark smirk, his voice dripping in ruthlessness whilst revealing "And now as you took damage, you'll experience pain and despair!" The young teen stared in confusion for a second before he heard a sound from the metal band around his arm. Quickly looking at it, he managed to see a few sparks before electricity was sent coursing through his entire body. His eyes widened before he let out a scream of pain.

Alexis had a look of horror on her face when she saw Jaden getting shocked, screaming out "Jaden!" She then turned towards Zane with an expression of pure rage on her face, "Zane! How could you do this!?"

Zane didn't answer her and just watched as Jaden got shocked for a few more seconds before the electricity stopped.

The brunette grabbed a hold of the table in front of him while his arms were shaking.

"Each time either of us loses life points, we will receive an electric shock, before this duel is over, you'll learn that dueling is not meant to be fun, it's something you use to completely crush your enemy!" the seventeen year-old explained with a smirk.

Jaden groaned while he grabbed his face down card, his voice still laced with the pain he endured "Since… my monster was destroyed in battle… I can activate my trap card… Hero Signal!" He flipped the card face up and it was a trap card with the image of a light in the sky with the large letter H on it.

He grabbed his deck and looked through it, "Now I can special summon a level 4 or below Elemental Hero from my deck, so now…" He stopped looking through his deck and grabbed a card in it, "I summon Elemental Hero Bubbleman in defense mode". A green light appeared in front of him and then a short man in blue armor with a cape and a water cannon on his right arm appeared on a knee, Def: 1200.

Jaden then shuffled his deck before placing it back down in its slot and drew two more cards, "And since he's the only card on my field when I summon him, I get to draw two cards". he finished, taking in a deep breath as the pain faded to a dull throb.

Zane narrowed his eyes, commenting in a dark tone "It doesn't matter, you won't be able to defeat me anyway". He grabbed another card in his hand, "Now I end my turn by placing one card face down". The slot behind Cyber Dragon then began to glow green as a card appeared in mid-air once again.

Jaden placed his fingers on his deck, allowing his excitement to shine through once more in his voice."It's my move now". He drew his next card and looked at it, "I now activate the spell card Polymerization!" A spell card with the image of two monsters being sucked into a vortex appeared on the field.

The teen grabbed a card in his hand, announcing with an excited grin "And next I fuse Bubbleman on my field with Elemental Hero Avian in order to Fusion Summon Elemental Hero Absolute Zero in attack mode". A green male monster with wings appeared next to Bubbleman and both of them got sucked into the vortex which had appeared on the field and then a monster in blue and white armor with a white cape appeared on the field, Atk: 2500.

He grabbed yet another card in his hand, "Next I activate the spell card Shrink, which allows me to cut your Cyber Dragon's original attack points in half". Cyber Dragon then shrunk until he was half his normal size, Atk: 2100-1050.

Jaden then pointed at Cyber Dragon, his voice full of confidence and happiness from the adrenaline coursing through his veins. "And next, Absolute Zero will attack your Cyber Dragon with Instant Freeze". Absolute Zero fired ice shards from his hands that hit Cyber Dragon and froze him inside of a solid block of ice. Cracks then appeared in the ice and it shattered along with Cyber Dragon, Zane LP: 4000-2550.

Electric sparks came out of the band around Zane's arm and a surge of electricity was sent through his body leaving him groaned in pain.

The brunette furrowed his brows when he saw that his opponent didn't react as strongly to the electricity as he had. "Why didn't it hurt you as much?" he asked both out of worry and curiosity.

Zane chuckled with a smirk on his face, answering "I have been testing the system, including the penalty system, so my body has slowly gotten used to the pain."

Jaden got a troubled smile on his face and sighed, "Of course, I should've guessed it". He then looked at his hand and grabbed a card in his hand, "Next I place one card face down and end my turn". The spot behind Absolute Zero then glowed green as a card appeared.

Zane placed his fingers on his deck, the cruelty in his voice increasing by an octave. "It's my turn now". He drew his next card and looked at it, then flipped his face down card to reveal a trap card with the image of a cemetery on it, "I activate the continuous trap card Call of the Haunted, thanks to this I can special summon a monster from my graveyard in attack mode and since I only have one then you know which monster I'll bring back". Cyber Dragon then reappeared on the field, Atk: 2100.

He revealed the card he had drawn, "And next I activate the spell card Pot of Greed which means that I can now draw two more cards". Zane then drew two more cards from his deck and looked at them.

Zane then revealed a spell card, his tone shifting to nearly a psychotic one "And next, I'm going to activate the spell card Power Bond!"

Jaden got a worried expression on his face, muttering, "That's not good!"

The dark-haired teen grabbed a card in his hand, "With this spell card, I can now Fusion Summon a machine type Fusion monster, so now I'm going to fuse the Cyber Dragon on my field with the one in my hand in order to summon Cyber Twin Dragon".

A second Cyber Dragon appeared next to the first one and then both of them got sucked into a vortex similar to earlier that appeared on the field and then out of it came a twin headed Cyber Dragon, Atk: 2800.

Zane smirked victoriously, "And thanks to Power Bond, my Cyber Twin Dragon's attack points are doubled". Cyber Twin Dragon roared as a blue aura surrounded him, Atk: 2800-5600.

Alexis had a worried expression on her face, noting upon examination "Cyber Twin Dragon has 5600 attack points now, and since he can attack twice during each battle phase, this could be the end for Jaden unless his face down card can save him."

Syrus glanced at her, pointing out "Looks like you haven't seen Jay use Absolute Zero yet since he recently got it. Trust me, Absolute Zero himself will be enough to save him".

The dark-haired teen grabbed another card in his hand, "And next, I summon Cyber Kirin in attack mode". A mechanical dog appeared on the field, Atk: 300.

Zane looked at the opposing duelist, "Next I sacrifice Cyber Kirin, which means that I won't take any effect damage this turn".

Jaden smirked on his face as he saw Cyber Kirin disappear from the field, impressed as he complimented Zane. "Clever move, by doing that, the side effect of Power Bond which inflicts damage to you equal to the attack points of the monster you summoned with it at the end phase of the turn you summoned it will be negated".

Still holding onto hope for the teen, he looked at Zane with a smile and asked, "Tell me Zane, despite the… penalty we get each time we take damage, can you truly say that this duel doesn't excite you?"

Zane narrowed his eyes, snarling hatefully "The only thing I'm thinking right now is that I'm going to crush you". He then pointed at Absolute Zero, "Now Cyber Twin Dragon, attack Elemental Hero Absolute Zero with Double Strident Blast". Both of Cyber Twin Dragon's head then fired a blue beam towards Absolute Zero, destroying him while Jaden was forced to shield his face from the simulated mini explosion, Jaden LP: 3700-600.

The brunette groaned in pain as he felt the band around his arm activate and send electricity racing through his body.

Alexis looked at her friend in worry, desperate to try to prevent any more harm coming to him, "We need to stop this! Getting shocked like that can seriously damage their bodies on the inside."

Syrus looked at Zane with a sad expression on his face, sighing sadly "I know, but Zane won't stop until he has defeated Jaden, and Jaden won't stop this duel either, which means that we can only stand here and watch".

Zane then pointed at Jaden, "This is the end Yuki, now Cyber Twin Dragon…" he stopped as a thick sheet of ice started to cover Cyber Twin Dragon's body. He glared at Jaden who had a grin on his face, "What's going on here Yuki?"

Jaden laughed lightly through the pain, "You activated Absolute Zero's special ability when you destroyed him. You see when Absolute Zero leaves the field, all the monsters on my opponent's side of the field are destroyed, so say sayonara to your Cyber Twin Dragon!"

Cyber Twin Dragon's body was now completely covered by the ice, slowly cracks appeared in the ice which then spread outwards followed by both it and Cyber Twin Dragon shattering. Zane gritted his teeth, "Fine, I'll end my turn now".

Jaden placed his fingers on his deck, "It's my turn now". He drew his next card and looked at it, "Now I summon Blue Flame Swordsman in attack mode". A warrior in a blue armor with a large blue hat and a blue sword appeared on the field, Atk: 1800.

Jaden then pointed at Zane, "Now Blue Flame Swordsman, attack Zane directly with Blue Flaming Sword of Battle". Blue Flame Swordsman's sword ignited with blue fire and he rushed towards Zane followed by slashing at him with his sword causing Zane to cover his face while he growled in irritation, Zane LP: 2550-750.

The seventeen year-old used the railings as support as he groaned in pain from the electric shock that followed. Zane glared at Jaden, bitterly asking, "Are you done Yuki?"

Jaden looked at the four cards in his hand. Right now he didn't have any good defense. He had one card that could protect him, but only from the graveyard.

Jaden looked at his face down card, it was his Hero Barrier trap card, he had decided not to use it since Cyber Twin Dragon still would've destroyed Absolute Zero. He had hoped that he would draw another Elemental Hero but he didn't unfortunately, which meant that he would be finished if Zane managed to summon a monster with at least 2400 attack points or if he managed to weaken Blue Flame Swordsman.

He looked at his opponent, stating in a bit of a disappointed tone "I end my turn now Zane".

Alexis narrowed her eyes, commenting in a stern tone "This is a pretty even duel, however Zane still hasn't gotten out either of his strongest monsters. This match can still go either way."

Zane looked at the three cards in his hand, none of them could help him right now. "It's my turn now." he snarled. He drew his next card and he looked at them, "Now I activate the spell card Card Destruction."

Jaden gritted his teeth when he saw how the spell card with the image of a hand tossing cards appeared on the field. "Now this card forces both of us to discard our entire hands and then we'll draw the exact same number of cards from our decks." Zane explained

Zane placed his three cards in his graveyard slot and drew three new cards while Jaden placed his four cards in his graveyard slot and drew four new cards. The fifteen year-old looked at Zane troubled as he thought, _"Could Zane be trying to get his hand on any of his Cyberdark cards? Not to mention, I have a feeling he discarded at least one dragon just now in case he managed to draw a Cyberdark monster."_

Zane looked at the cards he had drawn and a smirk appeared on his face, "Now I summon my third Cyber Dragon in attack mode". Zane's third and final Cyber Dragon then appeared on the field with a roar, Atk: 2100.

He grabbed one of the remaining two cards in his hand, "And next I activate the spell card Polymerization, and with it, I will show you true terror by Fusion Summoning my Cyber End Dragon".

Jaden widened his eyes in shock, exclaiming "Cyber End Dragon? But two of your Cyber Dragons are in your graveyard!"

Zane smirked as he revealed the last card in his hand, his tone dripping with satisfaction and disdain, "I now activate the spell card Cybernetic Fusion Support, now thanks to this, I can pay half of my life points in order to remove monsters from the field, hand and graveyard, in order to summon a machine type Fusion monster".

He gritted his teeth as he once again got shocked by the band around his arm, Zane LP: 750-375.

He grabbed the Cyber Dragon on his field and the two in his graveyard before placing them on the table next to his graveyard slot, "Now, behold the creature that will be your doom, come forth Cyber End Dragon!"

A bright light appeared on the field and a large shadow with wings, as soon as the light died out, a Cyber Dragon with three different shaped heads with wings could be seen, Atk: 4000.

Jaden gritted his teeth, "So you have finally appeared, Cyber End Dragon".

With a cruel smirk playing on his lips, Zane noted in a dark tone, "This duel is finally over Yuki. Now Cyber End Dragon, attack his Blue Flame Swordsman with Super Strident Blaze!" Each one of the heads then fired a blue beam from their mouths that flew towards Blue Flame Swordsman.

Jaden however narrowed his eyes, "Not so fast, I now activate the special ability of my Electromagnetic Turtle!"

Zane's eyes widened when he heard that and Jaden took a card from his graveyard. Flipping it around, he revealed it was a monster card with the image of a mechanical turtle. "Thanks for forcing me to discard this card earlier Zane, because it's in my graveyard, I can remove it from my graveyard in order to end your battle phase immediately." the brunette said with a bright grin. Jaden placed Electromagnetic Turtle next to the slot for his graveyard.

Cyber End Dragon's attack then vanished right before it hit Blue Flame Swordsman.

The older teen gritted his teeth, bitterly commenting "Fine, I end my turn, however the outcome of this duel hasn't changed, there is no way you can defeat my Cyber End Dragon".

Jaden looked at his deck, frowning in worry as he thought, _"He's wrong, I have at least two monsters in my deck that can take down Cyber End Dragon and end this duel, however the odds of drawing either of them are really low since I have over twenty cards left, is this really the end? Is this the end of my friendship with Syrus?"_

However, he noticed a glow coming from around his chest. He looked down and saw that the eye on his puzzle was glowing. Jaden's eyes widened, _"Wait don't…"_ he began in a panic, but never got to finish.

A bright flash of light came out of his puzzle which blinded Zane. Once the light died out and he could see again, he saw Jaden standing with his arms crossed and his eyes closed. However what shocked him was that he had a glowing eye on his forehead.

Zane's eyes widened in shock when the brunette opened his eyes to reveal that they had turned golden. "What's going? What happened to you Yuki?" he demanded in a slight unnerved tone.

However he didn't get an answer from the person in front of him. Jaden then appeared in spirit form next to his own body, angrily exclaiming _"Haou! I thought that we had an agreement, you would only take control over my body if I agreed to it."_

The person called Haou turned his eyes slightly towards Jaden, replying in a stern tone _"And I told you, if it seemed like you were about to lose, I would take over for you."_

The teen gritted his teeth, he knew it was pointless to argue with Haou, he had known that since the first time he met him.

He remembered how he had finally managed to put together the Millennium Puzzle after a few years of trying, and then how he sometimes would experience memory loses whenever he or his friends were in trouble.

After a few weeks of that happening, somehow, Jaden managed to enter his soul room while sleeping. Haou had later explained that it was possible for a person to enter their soul room while being awake, however it demanded a lot of concentration.

In his soul room, he had finally met the other soul that was residing inside of his body. He had found himself standing face to face with someone who looked almost identical to himself except for his golden eyes. Out of curiosity, Jaden had asked him who he was. However the other soul had replied that he didn't know who he was nor where he came from. The only thing he remembered was the word Haou and wondered if he had been called that once upon a time, other than that, he only had the memories of the time he had been inside of Jaden ever since he solved the Millennium Puzzle.

After that Jaden managed to strike a deal with Haou. From then on, Haou would only take control over his body if Jaden allowed it. In exchange Haou would teach Jaden what he knew about the power of the puzzle and how to control its power.

Haou looked at Zane, his voice was emotionless yet powerful, "Zane Truesdale, you have gone too far this time, trying to force your ideology of dueling on your younger brother, and then challenging me to a duel where we get an electric shock each time we lose life points. Today, I shall teach you a lesson you will never forget."

He placed his fingers on his deck while the puzzle glowed faintly. "It's my turn, I draw!" with a shout, he drew his next card and looked at it. A faint smirk gracing his lips upon seeing what he had drawn.

He grabbed a card in his hand, and stated in a stern tone befitting of a king, "Now I activate the spell card O - Oversoul!" A spell card with the large letter O appeared on the field, "Now thanks to this spell, I can special summon a normal Elemental Hero monster from my graveyard, so return to me now Elemental Hero Avian". Avian then appeared on the field, Atk: 1000.

Haou then held up the card he had just drawn, "And now, I sacrifice the two monsters on my field, now break free from your iron prison, Gandora-X The Dragon of Demolition!" Both Avian and Blue Flame Swordsman disappeared and a large black dragon with two blade like horns on each side of his head and red orbs all over its body appeared on the field, Atk: 0.

He gestured out his hand towards Gandora-X, "When Gandora-X is normal or special summoned, I can activate his special ability which allows me to destroy all other monsters on the field, and then deal damage to the opponent equal to the original attack points of the strongest monster on the field".

Zane's eyes widened in shock, immediately exclaiming in disbelief "What did you say?!"

Haou looked at Zane with a cold glare, his emotionless voice carrying a sense of foreboding. "Also, Gandora-X would normally gain attack points equal to the damage you would take from his ability, however since you only have 375 life points left, this duel will be over once your Cyber End Dragon is destroyed and you'll take its original 4000 attack points as damage".

The orbs on Gandora-X's body lit up and Gandora roared before he fired a beam from each orb and they flew all over the field, Cyber End Dragon roared a few times in pain as he got hit by five of the beams before he got destroyed.

Zane then shielded his face as the beams also hit him. He then screamed in pain as he, once again, got shocked by the band around his arm, Zane LP: 375-0.

Zane clenched his teeth, trying to fight off the pain coursing throughout his body. He couldn't believe he lost; he dominated at the game of Duel Monsters and defeat was an unknown concept for him since what felt like ages now. A hateful snarl escaped his mouth as he stared at the teen across from him, seeing him only stare back with those emotionless golden eyes.

Haou narrowed his eyes slightly. He could sense the darkness practically seeping from Zane's mind, overwhelming his thoughts and drowning out his emotions. It was clear what he needed to do. Silently his puzzle glowed in sync with the eye symbol on his forehead.

"Zane Truesdale, I can see that darkness consumes your mind, affecting your actions. By the powers of the shadows, I plunge your conscious into the depths of your mind. Do not awaken until you have freed your mind from the darkness of your own creation!"

The dark-haired teen only had mere seconds to react as he suddenly felt a strange force pulse through him. His mouth hung open in a silent scream; his eyes glazed over, losing all signs of life. He lost awareness of his surroundings as his consciousness slipped into darkness. All that was left of the seventeen year-old was now a comatose body barely standing with lifeless eyes.

"Zane!" Syrus shouted in worry as he dashed over to his brother.

Panic filled him whilst he tugged on his sibling's arm, hoping to gain any kind of response. But no matter what he did, Zane didn't so much as flinch. The only indicator of the older teen being alive was the slow yet steady movement of his chest from his breathing.

Haou didn't utter a word, as he lowered his head. He could feel the anger Jaden directed toward him for using his powers, but he didn't care. He hoped in time that the brunette would see his actions were necessary to help Zane. With his goal accomplished, he closed his eyes and his companion's soul took control once again.

Jaden opened his eyes which had returned to their natural brown color. He bit his lip nervously when he saw the heartbroken expression on Syrus's face. Knowing he couldn't do much for the comatose teen, he made his way off his stand. Though just as reached the ground, he noticed Alexis approaching him with a concerned frown.

"Jaden, that thing happened again. That thing where it seems like you turn into another person. I don't know why you won't tell us what's going on with you. Jesse is worried about you. I'm worried about you." she said as she rested her hand on his shoulder, "Jaden, what has happened to you?"

With a small frown, the fifteen year-old glanced toward the ground. He desperately wanted to tell his friends about Haou and the Millennium Puzzle, but he couldn't. Both he and the spirit agreed it was something that couldn't be easily understood. After all, he figured anyone would be reluctant to believe the claims of being a host to a spirit sealed away inside a puzzle. So as much as it pained him to do so, he had to hide this knowledge away from his friend.

Forcing the best smile on his face, he ensured "Don't worry Alexis, I'm still me."

This was only partially the truth, but he felt it was better than insisting that nothing was wrong. Remembering the still distraught Syrus, he gently moved her hand away and approached the blue-haired teen. Though as he walked away, he could still feel the teenage girl's worried gaze focused on his back. A pang of guilt and frustration toward Haou shot through his heart when he noticed Syrus's eyes were brimming with tears.

Unsure exactly what to say, he finally spoke up "Sy, I'm so sorry about Zane."

Syrus let out a shaky sigh as he rubbed the sleeve of his jacket across his eyes, banishing any tears that might have escaped.

"It's alright. I guess Zane ended up this way from the electrodes." he replied, although he wasn't fully convinced this was the cause of his brother's coma, especially upon recalling Haou's words, "I'm just worried if he'll ever come out of this."

Jaden didn't respond as his stared at the comatose teen. Looking deeply into his lifeless blue eyes, he could still feel Zane was still there. After all, Haou had only said he banished his consciousness to the depths of his mind. With a small smile, he placed his hand on top of his friend's head and ruffled his hair.

"Don't worry Sy, I'm confident he'll come back. After all, he has someone who cares deeply for him waiting for him." he said.

Syrus gasped as his eyes lit up with hope. With a confident nod, he turned back toward his brother's body. No matter how long it took, he would wait for his brother to reawaken. But until then, he would make it his responsibility to watch over and have his brother cared for.

Meanwhile, in the depths of his mind, Zane in the form of his eight year-old self was lost in darkness. The young child was fearful of the darkness that enveloped his mind. No matter where he looked, all he could see was darkness. He whimpered as he slid down to the cold ground and curled his legs up against his chest. There was no doubt in his mind, he was trapped in the darkness with no escape. But before he could give up all hope, something caught his eye. In the distance he could see a small light. It was small and weak, but it still managed to pierce the darkness that was his mind.

At first he stared in amazement until, slowly, he smiled when he felt a familiar warmth he had thought he had long since lost. It was in that moment he recognized the light belonging to that of his brother's heart. Pushing himself back to his feet, he began following the light. No matter how long it took, with Syrus's light as his guide, he knew one day he would escape the darkness.


	2. Chapter 2 - The Mysterious Tape

Yu-Gi-Oh! Reversal

Chapter 2

Six months had passed since the fateful duel at Truesdale Corp. School had ended and Jaden was on his way to the hospital with Syrus. The teen had made an effort to accompany his friend each time he wanted to visit his comatose brother. He still felt guilty for Zane's state and angry at Haou for being the cause of it, but he was willing to push those feelings aside. It didn't take long for the two to finally arrive at their destination.  
Syrus took in a shaky breath before entering the room. His hands clenched slightly when he saw his brother still looked the same, laying in a hospital bed with his lifeless blue eyes wide open.

Forcing away the pain in his heart, the blue-haired teen smiled as he said "Zane, it's me, Syrus. I came back to visit like I said I would."

His smile faltered slightly when his brother showed no response as usual.

"Jaden's here too by the way." he quickly added, "I know you don't like him, but he's worried about you too. Everyone is really. We're all still waiting for you. It's been six months, but Jaden says you will wake up and I believe him."

Jaden couldn't help but feel his heart ache slightly for the younger brother. Though much to his slight frustration, his thoughts were stirred by his spiritual companion appearing beside him.

He narrowed eyes and mentally commented _"I don't see why you decided to show up. It's your fault he's like this. I'm thankful you saved my friendship with Syrus, but you endangered it at the same time by putting his only brother in a coma!"_

With a sharp glance of his gold eyes, Haou replied _"I made it clear that what I did was necessary. I had hoped you would finally realize that. This wasn't something that could be fixed with the fun of dueling. His mind was consumed by darkness, corrupting him. I do not care if you hate me, but either way, this was for his sake. He will awaken, but only after he escapes the prison he had created for himself."_

Not another word was uttered from the two companions as he vanished once more.  
Jaden let out a tired sigh whilst rubbing his fingers against his forehead. He considered Haou a pain at times, but he couldn't bring himself to hate the spirit. After all, he has no inkling of what the spirit's life was like before his death due to the amnesia. Bringing his thoughts back to the present, he smiled while patting Syrus on the shoulder.

Minutes passed by as the two talked to the comatose Zane, hoping their words could still reach him. Seeing that it was starting to get late, the two decided it was finally time to head home. But as they left the hospital room, a shocking sight caught their eyes. Walking down the hallway was none other than Jesse.  
The teal-haired teen had failed to notice them as he traversed the halls, carrying a plush of a purple cat.

"Jesse doesn't seem to be visiting Zane, does he have a sick relative?" Syrus questioned.

"I don't know." Jaden replied, his eyes never leaving the fifteen year-old, "Let's follow him and find out."

Wordlessly, the two began following Jesse. Curiosity filled their minds as they watch him finally stop at one of the rooms, briefly talking to the nurse on the outside before entering. Wasting no time, they quickly ran up to the nurse, prompting the woman to jump slightly in surprise.

"Oh my, are you more friends of Blair? One of her friends just went inside, you can enter if you like." the nurse stated.

Upon hearing this, Jaden and Syrus blinked in shock. They didn't know anyone named of Blair and had to wonder how Jesse came to know her. Deciding to gain answers, they accepted the offer and entered the room. Inside they were greeted with the sight of a young eleven year-old girl with black hair in a hospital bed with Jesse seated next to her. There was no doubt in their minds that the girl was the one known as Blair Flannigan.

The young girl, tilted her head slightly as her hands felt along the top of her bed. It only took her a few moments for her fingers to grace the top of Jesse's hand. Blair gasped happily before feeling up the teen's arm and pulling him into a tight hug.

"Jesse, you're here!" she said with a smile.

The fifteen year-old chuckled in response "Of course I am. Why wouldn't I visit my favorite gal?" prompting the young girl to giggle with a blush.

Jaden raised a brow in confusion, wondering why the girl had failed to notice their presence. He could understand Jesse due to his back being faced toward him, but he surely thought the young child would notice two newcomers. But before he could question it any further, he got his answer in the form of Jesse gifting the girl the plush cat he was carrying. When he saw the girl carefully run her hands over the plush, it had dawned on him that she was blind. Yet that still left the question as to how his friend came to know the blind girl in the first place.

He was snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of Jesse finally bidding the girl goodbye. The brunette could only remain frozen in place as he was greeted with a sight of shocked green eyes.

"Syrus? Jaden? Why are you both here?" the teal-haired teen questioned in confusion.

"We could ask you the same thing." Syrus noted."

Jesse opened his mouth to quickly come up with rebuttal, only to close it. It was then he knew there was no use in hiding the truth, he had already been caught. So with a sigh of defeat, he lead his two friends out of the hospital room and began to explain everything.

"Truth is that I secretly have a part-time job as a babysitter." he confessed, "Blair was actually a kid I was hired to watch the most due to her parents being busy constantly. With each of my visits, we kind of became good friends. Although she did grow a bit of a crush on me. Well one day I found out exactly why her parents were constantly busy. Turns out Blair was going blind and her parents were trying to find a doctor in order to perform an eye operation. I just felt sorry for her and figured, while I can't do anything, the least I can do is cheer her up while she's in the hospital."

"Oh, so that explains things." Syrus commented with a frown, "Also explains why you've never mentioned it to anyone of us. You would get in big trouble with the school if they were to find out you had a part-time job."

Jesse silently nodded his head in reply.  
Jaden remained silent in thought, humming as he considered the situation. Finally he rested his hands behind his head and smiled.

"Is that all? You could have told us, we're friends after all. But don't worry, well make sure no one at school finds out about your job." he said.

Glancing up at his friend, Jesse couldn't help but smile out of gratefulness.

Later that day, nightfall had come. Jaden was sitting in front of a TV watching the final round of a dueling tournament being broadcast along with Jesse and Alexis. His eyes remained focused on the action, carefully analyzing the two duelists Weevil Underwood and Rex Raptor. He never did find himself interested in the competitive scene of dueling, rather wishing to duel purely for the fun of it. But nonetheless, he still enjoyed watching others giving their all during the duels. He witnessed the ending of the match as Weevil's monster destroyed Rex's, claiming victory.

"You know that was a pretty close match." Alexis noted, "But Rex got too cocky, leading to his downfall."

"To be fair, most duelists tend to get more careless once they summon a powerful monster." Jesse added, "A common yet understandable mistake."

The trio fell silent when, on the screen, they noticed a man enter the dueling stadium. The man had long blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail and wore an extravagant blue suit with a long tail. Jaden nearly jolted in surprise when he heard the nasally tone of the man's voice, having mistaken the man for a woman at first due to the suit's many frills and his purple lipstick.

"Hello everyone, you all very much know me as Vellian Crowler, the creator of Duel Monsters." the man introduced himself, "I came here to personally congratulate these two for their magnificent dueling! So let's give them a round of applause shall we?"

The crowd erupted into thunderous applause and cheers. Crowler simply shook the two teens hands. But as he did this, he quietly whispered something under his breath, causing the two teens to glance at each other before grinning in excitement.  
Jaden couldn't help but be curious at this sight. He had to wander what exactly did Crowler tell the two duelists to make them so excited. Unfortunately his thoughts were interrupted by the doorbell ringing.

Wasting no time, he quickly rushed to the front door and opened it up. Yet much to his surprise and confusion, no one was there. The only thing was a single white box with his name on it.

Jaden picked up the box confused and looked at it and then saw another note on it. His eyes then widened when he saw the name Chronos Cogs on it, "Chronos Cogs? But isn't that Crowler's company?" he thought out loud.

He walked back in to the living room as Jesse and Alexis looked at him, "Who was at the door Jay?" Jesse asked.

The brunette looked at him, shrugging his shoulders as he answered "I don't know, when I got there, I just found this box from Chronos Cogs in front of the door".

Alexis's eyes widened when she heard that, stunned as she decided to confirm her suspcions "Chronos Cogs? But that's Vellian Crowler's company! Why would they send a package to you?"

The teen shrugged his shoulders once more, unable to give an answer before he sat down next to her on the couch. Curiosity having filled his mind, he suggested "I got no idea, let's open it and find out". Alexis nodded her head while Jesse got up and went behind the couch so he could look over their friend's shoulder. He opened the box and the three of them looked in to it.

The teal haired-teen noted raised an eye brow, "What's with that glove and those stars?"

Jaden narrowed his eyes confused, inside of the box was a red glove with ten star shaped holes in it with two star shaped objects next to it with a video tape under it, "I have no idea".

Alexis picked up the tape, humming in thought before suggesting "This video tape will probably explain everything". She then went over to the VCR and put the tape into it, starting it before she returned to the couch.

Suddenly, Crowler's face appeared on the TV with a smirk on his face, "Good day Jaden Yuki, as you most likely already know, I'm Vellian Crowler." he introduced himself in his usual nasally tone.

Jesse looked at the TV shocked, "Hold on, Crowler? Why would he send you a video message?" he asked, completely confused. Jaden shrugged his shoulders again; he had no idea what was going on.

Crowler closed his eyes on the TV, voicing praise yet with a hint of ill intent "First of all, let me tell you that I was quite impressed when I heard that you'd defeated Zane Truesdale. In fact, I was so impressed that I decided to personally test your skills. Right here and now, we're going to duel. We'll duel for 15 minutes and the winner of this duel will be the one with the one who has the most life points remaining after the time is up, are you ready?"

Jaden and Alexis looked at each other shocked while Jesse walked towards the TV. "There is no way he actually thinks you're going to duel against a video tape right? Let's just turn it off." he scoffed, finding the whole thing ridiculous.

He moved his hand towards the eject button, however Crowler chuckled, "I don't think so."

Jaden then noticed a glow on the TV screen and he saw a golden object around Crowler's neck. He got nervous when he noticed the eye symbol in the middle of it.

Without warning, he heard Jesse gasp in shock. Turning around, he saw that Jesse was surrounded by a golden light, "I… can't… move." the teal-haired teen struggled to say, grunting as he tried to move his limbs.

Jaden quickly turned his head towards Alexis and saw that she was surrounded by a golden light as well. The fifteen year-old turned back to the TV again and narrowed his eyes, demanding in an angry tone "What's going on here?"

Crowler chuckled, slyness dripping off each word with his explanation "Sorry about that, but I won't let your friends interrupt our duel. Now place your dueling mat on the floor and get ready and then, let's duel like they did in ancient times".

Jaden's eyes widened in shock, uttering in a shaky tone"Do you mean…" The way he heard the slyness in Crowler's voice, he was sure that he was talking about a Shadow Game.

The older man's smirk grew bigger, his voice retaining the slyness as he taunted "I mean exactly what you think I am, and let me tell you this, you can't refuse. Because if you do, something might happen to your friends that are trapped because of my spell".

The Millennium Puzzle glowed for a moment and then the teen so stood up while he narrowed his golden eyes while he glared at Crowler.

Crowler looked at Haou with a satisfied smirk on his face. "Looks like you're finally ready to duel, so then shall we begin?" he asked with a him.

Haou nodded, replying in his emotionless yet stern tone "Yeah. After all, the sooner we begin, the sooner I can defeat you and free my friends from your spell".

Jaden appeared next to Haou in spirit form, angrily exclaiming _"Haou, you did it again! Why do you take control over my body from time to time even though I haven't agreed to it?"_

Haou looked Jaden who were to his right, his eyes narrowed as he barked back an annoyed reply _"No, you are not ready to face an opponent like this. I have taught you everything I know about the Shadow Games, and while that's not much, it should've taught you how serious these battles are. However it seems like you still doesn't take it as serious as you should, which is why I took over."_

He walked over to Jesse and moved him over next to the couch while avoided to make eye contact with neither him nor Alexis since he didn't want them to see his golden eyes. He walked over to the TV and sat down in front of it while he placed his dueling mat in front of him while he placed his deck on the slot spot while Crowler placed his deck on the deck slot on his dueling mat.

Both of them then drew their first five cards and looked at them, Crowler then placed his fingers on his deck. "I'll make the first move." he announced, his brimming with both confidence and arrogance. He then drew his sixth card and looked at it, "And the first thing I'll do is activating the field spell card Geartown!"

Haou narrowed his eyes when he saw what looked like a city that was made out of machine gears appear behind Crowler. Crowler's smirk grew bigger, "Now thanks to this card, both players can summon an Ancient Gear monster with one less sacrifice than it normally need, also when this card is destroyed and sent to the graveyard, I can special summon an Ancient Gear monster from my hand, deck or graveyard".

He grabbed another card in his hand, "Now I summon Ancient Gear Beast in attack mode". A mechanical dog then appeared on the field in front of Crowler on the TV screen, Atk: 2000.

Crowler then grabbed two more cards in his hand and placed them face down on two of his spell and trap cards zones, smugly stating "Now I place one card face down and end my turn."

The older man looked at his opponent, tauntingly pointing out "Now it's your turn, or are you getting scared? After all, as you know, in a Shadow Game, the monsters are real, which means that their powers are as well".

Haou narrowed his eyes, his voice on the verge of snarling as he said "If you think that scares me then you're wrong, I'll fight you with everything I have in order to take you down".

He placed his fingers on his deck, announcing in a determined tone "I draw". He drew his sixth card and looked at it before he placed it one one of the spell and trap card zones, "First I activate Pot of Greed which lets me draw two cards". Haou drew two cards before he placed Pot of Greed in his graveyard.

Looking at the cards he had drawn, he placed one of them in his hand. His voice showed no emotion as he stated, "And next, since you're the only one that has monsters on his field, I can special summon this card directly from my hand, so now come forth, Lord Gaia the Fierce Knight". A knight in a red and purple full body armor with a cape appeared on the field while riding on an armored dragon while holding a lance in each hand, Atk: 2300.

Haou then grabbed another card, "But I'm not done yet, next I'm gonna…"

However Crowler interrupted him, asking with a chuckle "Activate Polymerization in order to fuse together your Elemental Hero Sparkman and Necroshade in order to Fusion Summon Elemental Hero Darkbright, correct?"

Haou widened his eyes in shock for a second when he heard that before he narrowed them. "I don't know how you knew that, but you're correct! Now I fuse together Sparkman and Necroshade in order to Fusion Summon Elemental Hero Darkbright in attack mode." he replied in a dark tone, growing suspicious of his opponent.

A warrior in blue and yellow armor with a helmet over his face appeared on the field and then a monster with red skin appeared next to him before both of them got sucked in to the vortex that appeared on the field, and then a warrior with a yellow, red and dark brown armor with yellow metallic wings, Atk: 2000.

Crowler closed his eyes with a smirk on his face, tauntingly continuing "Summoning two powerful monsters during your first turn, that's quite impressive, and next you'll place two cards face down and then you're going to activate Mirage of Nightmare".

Haou gritted his teeth before he placed two of the three cards left in his hand face down in front of him, "Like you said, I'll place two cards face down, and next…" He revealed his Mirage of Nightmare spell card, "I activate the continuous spell card Mirage of Nightmare, which allows me to draw until I'm holding four cards in my hand during your standby phase, of course I then need to discard the same amount of cards during my own standby phase".

He then pointed at Ancient Gear Beast, commanding in a stern tone "Now Lord Gaia the Fierce Knight, attack Ancient Gear Beast!" Lord Gaia crossed his lances and charged up energy while the dragon charged up fire in its mouth while Ancient Gear Beast came out of the TV screen.

Lord Gaia unleashed a blue blast from his lances while the dragon launched a stream of fire that fused with the beam that flew towards Ancient Gear Beast and hit him, destroying him and causing shockwaves, forcing Haou and Crowler to shield their faces, Crowler LP: 4000-3700.

Haou looked at Crowler, continuing his commands "And now it is Darkbright's turn, attack Crowler directly with Dark Flash". Darkbright then held out his right hand towards Crowler and unleashed a black lightning flew towards Crowler and entered the TV screen and hit Crowler who groaned in pain, Crowler LP: 3700-1700.

After the attack finished, he grabbed Darkbright's card and changed it to defense mode, stating "Of course, Darkbright switches to defense mode after he attacks, but it only helps me". Darkbright then went down on a knee and crossed his arms, Def: 1000.

Haou smirked in amusement, deciding to shoot back a taunt of his own, "Looks like I managed to wipe out more than half of your life points during my first turn, did you predict that as well?"

Crowler chuckled, slyly replying "Indeed I did, which is why I activate my first face down card, Damage Condenser, now thanks to this, I can now special summon a monster from my deck whose attack points are equal or less than the battle damage you just inflicted to me, so now appear before us Ancient Gear Wyvern". A mechanical dragon without arms appeared on the field with a mechanical roar, Atk: 1700.

He picked up his deck and looked through it, explaining in an amused tone "Once per turn, if Ancient Gear Wyvern is normal or special summoned, I can add an Ancient Gear card from my deck to my hand, and…" Crowler revealed a monster card with a large monster on it, "The one I choose is Ancient Gear Golem". He then shuffled his deck and placed it back on its spot.

Haou gritted his teeth, snarling bitterly "Fine, I end my turn now".

Crowler then placed his fingers on his deck, "It's my turn again then". He then drew his next card and looked at it and a smirk appeared on his face

Haou at that time placed his fingers on his deck, stating "And since it's your standby phase now, I can draw four cards". He drew four cards and looked at them before proceeding to flip one of his face down cards face up. It was a spell card with an image of emergency provisions on it. "Next I activate Emergency Provisions, which means that for each one of my own spell or trap cards I decide to destroy, I gain 1000 life points, and I choose Mirage of Nightmare." he explained in a calm tone, refusing to allow his opponent's tactics to get to him. Haou then placed both spell cards in his graveyard, Haou LP: 4000-5000.

Crowler just chuckled, his amusement never leaving his voice "I'm not troubled by that at all, because I'm about to activate the spell card Warrior Elimination!"

Haou's eyes widened when he heard the name of the spell card and saw the image of someone looking at a warrior through a riffle sight.

The older man chuckled, "Now thanks to this card, I can destroy all warrior type monsters on the field, and if memory serves me right, both of your monsters are warrior monsters".

Both Darkbright and Lord Gaia then exploded as Haou shielded his face. He then lowered his arms and glared at Crowler, hissing hatefully "Bad move, you of all should know that when Darkbright is destroyed, he will take one of your monsters with him, which means that your Ancient Gear Wyvern is destroyed as well".

A ghostly image of Darkbright appeared in front of Haou and flew towards Ancient Gear Wyvern who came out of the TV screen, Darkbright's ghost then flew in to Ancient Gear Wyvern, Wyvern then let a scream before it exploded.

Crowler at that moment flipped up his other face down card, "At this moment, I activate the trap card Call of the Haunted, in order to bring back my Ancient Gear Wyvern in attack mode." he announced slyly. Wyvern then reappeared on the field with a roar, Atk: 1700.

He once again grabbed his deck, "And since I special summoned my Wyvern again, I can once again grab an Ancient Gear card from my deck and add it to my hand".

Crowler looked through his deck and grabbed a card and revealed it, "And the card I'll add to my hand is Ancient Gear Tank". He then shuffled his deck once again before he placed it back on its spot.

Crowler then held up his Ancient Gear Golem, maliciously smirking "Normally, I need two sacrifices in order to summon my Ancient Gear Golem, however thanks to Geartown, I only need one, so now I sacrifice my Wyvern in order to summon my Gear Golem".

Ancient Gear Wyvern disappeared and a large mechanical monster with large fists appeared on the field, Atk: 3000.

He held up his Ancient Gear Tank, "And next, I equip him with my Ancient Gear Tank spell card, which means that my Gear Golem gain another 600 attack points". Ancient Gear Golem then appeared inside of a metal tank that had a gun in front of it, Atk: 3000-3600.

Crowler then pointed at Haou, commanded in a superior tone "Alright Gear Golem, do me a favor and attack our friend over there directly".

The gun of the Gear Tank came out of the screen and opened fire at Haou. Haou grabbed his remaining face down however Crowler stopped him, "Don't bother trying to activate your Negate Attack, you can't activate trap or spell cards when Ancient Gear Golem attacks." he stated with a knowing smirk. Haou's eyes widened when he heard that.

The shots that Ancient Gear Golem fired then hit the ground in front Haou and caused an explosion that sent Haou flying in to the table behind him, causing him to groan in pain, Haou LP: 5000-1400.

Crowler closed his eyes with a confident smirk on his face, "And with that, I end my turn now".

Haou gritted his teeth, angrily thinking to himself, _Crowler just managed to take the lead with just one attack, I've been suspecting it, but he really have just been toying with me since this duel first began._

Haou got back to his position in front of the TV. "It's my move now." he announced in a determined tone, refusing to give up. He drew his next card and looked at it, he then looked at the cards in his hand. He placed the card he had drawn on one of the spell and trap card zones, "I activate the spell card Shrink, which means that your Ancient Gear Golem's original attack points will be cut in half." Ancient Gear Golem shrunk inside of his tank until he was half as big as he normally were, Atk: 3600-2100.

Haou then grabbed another card in his hand, "And now, I activate the spell card Fusion Recovery, which allows me to add one Polymerization and one Fusion material monster I used for a Fusion Summon in my graveyard to my hand, like Necroshade!"

He took both Necroshade and polymerization out of his graveyard and added them back to his hand. He glancing over at the timer on the VCR; he saw that it was a little less than six minutes left now, which meant that he needed to hurry if he was planning on winning this duel.

Haou then once again placed Polymerization on one of his spell and trap cards zones, "Now I use Polymerization in order to fuse together Elemental Hero Necroshade and Elemental Hero Clayman in order to Fusion Summon Elemental Hero Escuridao in attack mode".

Necroshade once again appeared on the field along with a warrior who was made completely out of rock with a small head, both of them got sucked in to the vortex that appeared on the field and out came a hero in black armor appeared on the field. He had two forked blades on his hips, he had sharp claws on his left hand and his right hand were in the shape of a weapon with three jagged blades, Atk: 2500.

Haou narrowed his eyes, noting with growing confidence "Elemental Hero Escuridao gain 100 attack points for every Elemental Hero in my graveyard". Escuridao got surrounded by a dark blue aura, Atk: 2500-2900.

Haou then pointed at Ancient Gear Golem, commanding "Now Escuridao, attack his Gear Golem with Dark Diffusion." The blade on Escuridao's right arm began to glow blue before he fired a blue blast from it which blasted a hole in the Ancient Gear Tank and went straight through Ancient Gear Golem's chest, destroying him, Crowler LP: 1700-900.

Crowler looked at Haou with a smirk, voicing compliments with hint of his usual taunting "Impressive, however since my Ancient Gear Tank was destroyed and sent to the graveyard, you'll take 600 points of damage". Haou gritted his teeth when he heard that, Haou LP: 1400-800.

Haou looked at the remaining three cards in his hand before he looked at Crowler, sighing in annoyance "I end my turn now".

Crowler placed his fingers on his deck, "My move then". He drew his next card and looked at it, he then looked at Haou with a smirk on his face.

"I have to admit that despite being so weak right now, you possess incredible dueling skills. You probably would've won already if I had been a normal opponent." he commented smugly.

Haou narrowed his eyes, his voice shifting to a more serious tone as he asked "What do you mean when you say that I'm weak despite having good dueling skills?"

Crowler shook his head, laughing in amusement, "That's right, I forgot. You don't remember your past. Well let me put it this way, once you manage to master not only the power of your Millennium Puzzle, but also the power sleeping deep within you, you'll become an almost unstoppable force".

Haou's eyes widened in shock for a moment before he narrowed his eyes at Crowler. "How could you possibly know something about my past?" he replied emotionless manner. He had figured out that Crowler somehow knew that he were a spirit living through Jaden's body so he knew that denying it would be pointless.

The older man placed a hand on the necklace around his neck, chuckling "As I'm sure you've already figured out, this necklace around my neck is a Millennium Item just like your puzzle, and just like it, my necklace grants me special powers".

Haou narrowed his eyes, confirming his suspicions"How many Millennium Items exists? I also guess that it's because of your necklace that you've been able to predict my moves before I do them, right?"

Crowler nodded his head, his usual smugness returned as he explained "There is a total of seven Millennium Items in this world, and while all of them share some abilities with each other, each one also possesses a few unique abilities as well. While you asked what power my necklace possesses, you'll just have to figure it out yourself. I know you will eventually."

He then placed the card he had drawn in his hand before grabbing another one in his hand, announcing "And now, I summon Ancient Gear Engineer in attack mode". Then a large humanoid machine creature with a large drill for a right arm appeared on the field, Atk: 1500.

Crowler grabbed the card he had drawn earlier and revealed it to be a spell card with the image of a soldier that was riding towards a few monsters, "And next I activate the spell card Back-Up Rider".

Haou's widened his eyes in shock, he uttered in disbelief "Back-Up Rider?" He and Jaden had two copies of that card themselves, however Jaden had only decided to use one of them despite his arguments that they should use both of them.

Crowler's smirk grew bigger, "That's right, this card lets me target one monster on the field, that target then gain 1500 attack points until the end phase of this turn, and obviously, I target my Ancient Gear Engineer". Ancient Gear Engineer, Atk: 1500-3000.

He then pointed at Escuridao, shouting in a confident tone "Now Ancient Gear Engineer, attack his Elemental Hero Escuridao". The drill on Ancient Gear Engineer's arm began to spin and he then came out of the screen and rammed it in to Escuridao, destroying him, Haou LP: 800-700.

Pointing Haou's face down card, he taunted with a chuckle "And since Ancient Gear Engineer destroyed a monster in battle, his special ability allows me to destroy one of your spell or trap cards, like your useless Negate Attack". Haou gritted his teeth and placed his Negate Attack in his graveyard.

Crowler then closed his eyes with a smirk on his face, "I end my turn now, which means that the effect of Back-Up Rider now ends". Ancient Gear Engineer, Atk: 3000-1500.

He looked at Haou, amusement and victory filling each of his words "And since we're below one minute now on the timer, it looks like I'm the winner of today's duel". Haou looked at the timer and saw that it was only forty seconds left on it.

Haou looked at Crowler with a determined expression, shouting "I won't give up until the end, I'm gonna bet everything on this one draw".

He placed his fingers on his deck and drew his next card and looked at it. A smirk then appeared on his face, announcing in a victorious tone "Now since Necroshade is in my graveyard, I can summon this Elemental Hero without sacrificing anything, now come forth Elemental Hero Bladedge and attack that Ancient Gear Engineer!"

A warrior in full body armor appeared on the field, he had two razor blades on each arm, Atk: 2600. Bladedge flew towards Ancient Gear Engineer who came out of the screen, he swung the blades on his right arm towards him.

However right before his blades could make contact with him, both Bladedge and Ancient Gear Engineer disappeared and Haou gritted his teeth in anger when he saw that timer had reached zero.

Crowler did his his best to hide his nerves. Had the timer not run out, he surely would have lost the duel. With an amused grin, he chuckled as the brunette glared at him with furious gold eyes.

"Well it seems you lost the duel, which means..." he paused, glancing toward the Jesse and Alexis still frozen by the spell and finishing, "I get to take one of your friends' souls as a prize."

Haou clenched his fists with a snarl, the shadows seemingly shaking from his rage alone. He had intended to keep both Jaden and his friends safe. But now that he had lost the Shadow Game, he was unsure how to keep them all safe. Many thoughts ran through his mind as Crowler taunted him by pretending to be in thought about who's soul he should claim. The thought crossed his mind of offering a bargain in exchange for his friend's safety, but he brushed that thought aside. He couldn't think of anything the sly blonde would be interested in except the Millennium Puzzle, but he wasn't about to give up such an important item.

Suddenly his thoughts were shattered by Crowler noting "Hmm, hard to decide. Perhaps I should save myself the trouble of deciding and take both of their souls!"

The teen's eyes widened in shock. But before he could even respond, he could feel his soul quickly be pulled back into the soul room. His mind was spiraling into confusion until it dawned on him what had happened. His control had been stripped away by none other than his partner.  
Jaden sucked in a sharp breath as he successfully ripped control of his body away from Haou. Desperate to save his two friends he shouted at Crowler to stop.  
Crowler smirked in amusement at the sight before him. Gone was the stern anger of Haou, and in it's place was a terrified teen,

"Don't take their souls! I'll do whatever you want, but only if you promise no harm will come to them!" the brunette pleaded in a frantic tone.

The older man hummed in victory. He had intended to hold the one of the souls hostage in exchange for the fifteen year-old's cooperation, but he found this method to be much more effective.

Seeing the boy was willing to listen, he stated "You must have noticed in the box there was a glove with two stars and some cards. These are the items I have been giving to the most skilled duelists around the world so they may participate in my tournament. Originally the final spot was meant to go to Zane, but with him still in his coma, I figured the perfect replacement would of course be the one who defeated him in the first place."

Jaden's body stiffened with his fingers tightly curling into his palms. With no choice in the matter, he agreed to participate in the tournament. The last thing he heard was Crowler's taunting laughter before the TV shut off on its own. He didn't move from his spot, only flinching slightly when he felt a pair of slim arms wrap tightly around him. Glancing up, he could see Alexis hugging him with Jesse standing behind her. He could easily see both the worry and fear painted on their faces from their experience with the Shadow Game.

The brunette didn't utter a word as he let a shaky breath; resting his head on Alexis shoulder. As he allowed his eyes slide close, he swore he heard Haou mutter a quiet apology before falling silent.


	3. Chapter 3 - Duel at the Pier

Yu-Gi-Oh! Reversal

Chapter 3

"So what was with all that talk of Shadow Games and Millennium Items anyway?" Jesse asked, a hint of worry in his voice.

Jaden couldn't help but flinch when he heard the question. There was no way he could brush aside their terrifying exposure to the Shadow Game as nothing more than a trick of their imaginations. He opened his mouth to explain everything, but remained silent when he heard Haou's voice sternly told him to leave out any information concerning having to share his body with another soul. He rolled his eyes with a sigh. He didn't understand why the spirit was still insistent on concealing his existence. His friends had already witnessed the Millennium Puzzle's potential; surely revealing his body housed not one but two spirits wouldn't be too unrealistic for them now. But much to his disappointment, the spirit remained firm on his stance, leaving him with no choice but to respect his wishes.

"The Shadow Games are a product of dark magic. In ancient times, people would initiate these games as they faced their enemies. These games were extremely dangerous and many people's lives were lost to this game as the dark magic always came with a price, one soul must suffer. Whether it be by death or another form of punishment, the Shadow Games always claimed their victims." Jaden explained, his voice shifted to an uncharacteristic dark tone.

Both Alexis and Jesse were stunned at this revelation. They were unsure what to think as many questions raced through their minds.

"How do you know about all this?" the blonde decided to voice her confusion, "Does it have to with the Millennium Item you hold? Is that why these weird things have been happening to you ever since you solved it?"

Biting down on his lip hard, the teen's brown eyes glanced down at the floor as he partially lied "I don't know. I didn't even know about the Millennium Items till this point, so I had no idea the Millennium Puzzle was so important. As for the Shadow Games, a guy mentioned it to me at school since he noticed I was interested in duels."

Jesse sightly narrowed his green eyes in suspicion. Over the school year he had grown to know Jaden, he easily learned how much of a terribly liar his friend was. Glancing over at Alexis, he could see the concern and suspicion in her eyes as well. Relieved that he wasn't alone with his worries, he decided to accept the teen's lie for now. After all, he had confidence that his friend would eventually come clean. The signs of there clearly being something wrong could only be hidden for so long. Deciding to shift everyone's thoughts away from the Shadow Games, Jesse asked about Crowler's tournament.

The brunette let out a sigh as he picked up the pack of cards out of the box. Tearing open the pack, he saw there were five cards inside; featuring images of the glove found inside of the box, a ship, an island with a castle, a pile of treasure, and a blank card. Flipping over the card with the glove on it, he saw that a series of rules had been written on it, explaining how participants moved up the ranks by betting and collecting Star Chips. The first four to collect ten Star Chips will move onto the finals and get the chance to challenge Crowler, but only if they either have "Glory of the King's Hand", which was the card with the pile of treasure on it, or "The Glory of the King's Opposite Hand", the blank card.

"According to the card with the ship on it." Jaden noted as he held up two cards, "A ship will leave the pier tomorrow night at nine, taking the participants to a private island owned by Crowler called 'Duelist Kingdom'. Apparently that's where the tournament will take place."

"I'm gonna guess you're gonna to participate." Alexis commented with a frown.

"What choice do I have, Lex?" the teenage boy replied before groaning and leaning his head back, "I don't know if Crowler could take your souls and I don't want to find out."

"Then we'll come with you." the blonde stated.

Upon hearing this, Jaden's eyes widened as he shot up in panic. Based on the teen's voice alone, he could tell it was not a kind suggestion. No, his friends were determined to accompany him. Immediately he frantically shook his head back and forth. He almost lost his friends to a Shadow Game, he wasn't about to endanger them for a second time. The thought of losing his friends deeply terrified him.

Taking a few seconds to calm down with a deep breath, he said "I appreciate the offer but I don't want you guys to get into any kind of trouble. Normally I would love to have you both by my side, but after tonight, I can't risk losing you both. I've made up my mind, I'm going alone."

Alexis' mouth pursed as her body tensed. She didn't agree with the decision, but she could understand why her friend came with such to a conclusion.

With a reluctant sigh, she replied "Alright Jaden, just be careful."

Jaden smiled in relief before thanking both teens. Although Crowler still worried him, at least he was thankful his friends wouldn't be in danger. Feeling the exhaustion from his body enduring through a Shadow Duel, he leaned his head back once more and immediately fell asleep. Though because of this, he failed to see the worried expressions Jesse and Alexis shared with each other.

The following day, Jaden took in a deep breath as he made his way to the pier. He exchanged his school uniform for a red jacket and blue pants, but kept the black shirt. His brows raised in surprise when he saw a long line of people boarding the ship. It made him wonder exactly how many duelists Crowler had invited to the tournament. Leaning to the side to take a glance at what's ahead, he could see participants having to present their Star Chips to security before boarding. He was about to straighten back up until he heard a commotion start up.

Glancing toward the front of the line again, he could see security arguing with a teenage boy and girl. At first he wondered who they were until he caught a glimpse of teal hair. His heart nearly stopped as his breath hitched. His fears were only confirmed when security were guiding the two teens away, revealing them as none other than Jesse and Alexis.

"Come on, all we want to do is get on the ship!" Jesse snapped; now dressed in a blue jacket, white shirt, and black pants.

"For the last time, only participants are allowed on board." the security guard replied sternly.

"Then let us enter as participants!" Alexis demanded; now sporting a blue vest and skirt with a white sweater.

Jaden couldn't believe what he was witnessing, feeling slightly frustrated that he allowed himself to think his friends wouldn't try to tag along despite his wishes. Yet at the same time, it touched him, reminding him why they were such close friends in the first place. Deciding to help out, the brunette called out to the security guards prompting them to pause as he ran up to them.

"Jaden! I can explain, we-" the teenage girl began to explain with a guilty expression.

But she found herself interrupted by her friend stating with a smile, "Don't worry, I understand."

Upon hearing this Jesse let out a loud sigh of relief before cracking a grin of his own.

Turning his attention to the security guards, Jaden asked "Is there any way they can be entered as participants?"

But before the security guard could respond, a smug female voice suggested "How about a duel for the right to compete?"

Turning around, the group came face to face with a teenage girl with long curly blonde hair and wearing an elegant jacket that almost looked like a pink princess dress. Standing next to her was a teenage boy with ginger hair and freckles; his clothes quite standard except for the different tech supplies he had nearly spilling out of his full pockets.

"My name is Aria." the girl introduced with a giggle.

"And my name is Shane." the boy smirked.

Jesse looked at them, "The name is Jesse Anderson, now what do you mean by a duel for the chance to compete?" hHe asked while he raised an eyebrow.

Shane's smirk grew bigger, "How about you and that cutie over there face me and Aria in a tag duel, and if you by some kind of miracle would actually beat us, we will let you two take our places as participates in the tournament". Shane had an expression of absolute confidence on his face when he said that.

Alexis narrowed her eyes while she glared at Shane, "Don't call me cutie, my name is Alexis Rhodes, and you shouldn't be so arrogant". She always hated when people underestimated her skills as a duelist, and she usually proved them wrong.

Aria looked at them with a smirk, "So, do we have a deal?"

Jesse looked at Alexis, "What do you think Lex? After all, this is a tag duel which means it involves both of us". Alexis looked at him and saw the desire to duel them in his eyes. In fact, she also wanted to duel them, mostly to put that arrogant Shane in his place.

Alexis got a smirk on her face, "Sure why not?" She and Jesse then turned their heads towards Aria and Shane, "Now let's do this."

Shane let out a mocking laugh at the confident tone in Alexis's voice while Aria turned towards the guards, "Is there a table inside of the ship we can use for this duel?" Aria had charming smile on her face when she asked that.

The guards looked at each other troubled, however they just told them to follow them and the four of them and Jaden walked up on to the ship while they followed the guards.  
A little while later so sat Jesse on the opposite side to Shane while Alexis sat at the opposite side to Aria, all four of them had their decks next to them and had drawn their first five cards.

Shane looked at them, "Alright, we will share the same field with our partner, both teams will have 8000 life points and no one can attack during their first turn." He looked at his two opponents with a smirk, "Simple enough right?"

Jesse and Alexis nodded their heads. Shane then placed his fingers on his deck, "Good, I'll go first".

The ginger drew his first card and looked at it. In that instant a smirk formed on his face, "Now I summon Batteryman D in defense mode". He placed a card with an image of a yellow battery with the number 1 in the middle with green arms and legs with head in defense position on the table, Def: 1900.

Shane looked at Alexis and Jesse with a smirk, "As long as this card remains on the field, you can't target thunder type monsters except for this card for attacks".

He then grabbed a card in his hand, "Next I place one card face down and end my turn". He placed a card face down on the table with a smirk on his face.

Jesse then placed his fingers on his deck, "It's my turn then". He drew his sixth card and looked at it, he got a smile on his face before he looked at Shane, "I place one monster face down in defense mode".

He placed a monster face down in defense mode before he grabbed a card in his hand and placed it face down on the table, "I also end my turn by placing one card face down".

Turning toward Aria, he stated "Alright, it's your turn".

Aria placed her fingers on her deck, "It's my turn then". She drew her sixth card and looked at it. A smile appeared on her face, "First of all, I summon Magician's Valkyria in attack mode". She placed a card with the image of a female magician in a green armor with a purple staff that was bent at the top on the table, Atk: 1600.

She looked at her hand, grabbing another card in her hand, "And next I activate the spell card Spellbook of Knowledge". She placed a spell card with the image of four magicians that was around a floating red spell book on the table.

"Now by sending the spell card Spellbook of Fate to the graveyard, I can draw two more cards". She had a smile on her face as she placed both the Spellbook of Fate and the Spellbook of Knowledge and drew two more cards.

She looked at the cards she had drawn before she looked at Alexis, "That ends my turn, now it's your turn".

Alexis nodded her head, "It's my turn then". She had a determined expression on her face as she drew her sixth card and looked at it, "First, I summon Etoile Cyber in attack mode". Alexis placed a card with a woman dressed in a red skater dress on the table, Atk: 1200.

She then looked at Jesse troubled, "Sorry Jess, I know your dueling style, but I need to place a few cards face down". She was worried that if Jesse had a plan that she might destroy it.

Jesse looked at her and gave her a reassuring smile, "Don't worry Alexis, do what you have to do".

Alexis gave him a grateful smile before she placed two cards face down on the table, "Now I place two cards face down and end my turn".

Shane placed his fingers on his deck, "It's my move, I draw". He drew his next card and looked at it, "I start by summoning Batteryman C in defense mode". He placed a monster that looked like a round blue battery with a blue head and with blue arms and legs in defense mode on the table, Def: 0.

He looked over at Jesse, "And now his special ability activates, you see if all Batteryman C's I have is in the same position mode, then they gain 500 defense or attack points, which means that he gains 500 points for himself now". Batteryman C, Def: 0-500.

He flipped over his face down card, revealing it was a spell card with the image of a fireman sliding down a pole as an alarm was ringing, "Now I activate the spell card Quick Summon which allows me to normal summon another monster this turn".

Shane then grabbed of the remaining four cards in his hand, "Now I sacrifice Batteryman C in order to summon Super-Electromagnetic Voltech Dragon in attack mode".

He placed his Batteryman C in the graveyard slot and then placed a card with the image of a mechanical dragon with electricity coming out of it on the table, Atk: 2400.

Shane looked at Jesse and Alexis with a smirk, "Also, since I sacrificed Batteryman C in order to summon him, he can now inflict piercing damage if he attacks a monster in defense mode and its defense is lower than his attack".

Aria looked at him, "You shouldn't be too reckless, Jesse's face down monster could have a nasty effect, or one of their face down cards might counter you".

Shane looked at her, "Come on, these two most likely aren't that good if they weren't even invited to Duelist Kingdom." he said with an irritated tone while Alexis glared at him for his comment.

He then turned his eyes towards Etoile Cyber, "Now Super-Electromagnetic Voltech Dragon, attack the cutie's Etoile Cyber now".

However Alexis at that moment got a smirk on her face while she flipped one of her face down cards face up and it was a trap card with the image of two cylinders where an attack went in to one and was redirected by the other one.

"Not so fast, I activate my trap card Magic Cylinder, which means that your attack is negated and you take damage equal to your monsters attack points". Alexis said with a satisfied tone, she felt even more satisfied when she saw the frustrated expression on Shane's face as he wrote down the damage he and Aria had just taken, Shane & Aria LP: 8000-5600.

Aria looked at Shane, "I tried to warn you." she told him with an irritated tone.

The ginger glared at her before he looked at the three cards in his hand before he grabbed two of them and placed them face down on the table, "I end my turn by placing two cards face down".

Jesse and Alexis looked at each other confused. They both wondered why Shane hadn't attacked with Aria's Magician's Valkyria, since they shared the field so could they attack with each other's monsters.

Jaden got a smile on his face while the crowd that had started to form around them started mumbling, "Alright, Alexis's move helped her and Jesse to take the lead, also Shane chose not to attack with Magician's Valkyria, even though I'm sure that Lex would've had an answer to that as well".

He then narrowed his eyes, _However, I don't know why, but for some reason, Shane calling Alexis cutie is making me a little irritated_ , Jaden thought to himself whilst he glared at Shane with a frustrated expression.

Suddenly, Haou appeared next to Jaden in spirit form, _"Man, how dense can you be Jaden?"_ he commented with a tone that was a mix of both shock and frustration.

The brunette turned his eyes slightly towards the spirit, _"And what's that supposed to mean Haou?"_ he asked with a raised eyebrow.

Haou sighed, _"Never mind, by the way, look behind you to the right."_ he said in a tired tone before disappearing once more.

Jaden looked behind him a little confused; his eyes widened when he saw a seventeen-year old brown haired boy. The boy looked at Alexis with a proud smile, _Wait! But that's… Alexis didn't tell me that he would be here, could it be that she didn't know either?_ Jaden thought to himself shocked before he turned towards the duel again.

Jesse placed his fingers on his deck, "It's my turn now, I draw". He drew his next card and looked at it and a smile appeared on his face, "Alright, now allow me to introduce you to my friend, Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus in attack mode". Jesse said with a happy smile on his face before he placed a card with the image of a white Pegasus with a blue horn on his forehead and a gem on each one of his wings, Atk: 1800.

Shane's and Aria's eyes widened when they heard that. Shane immediately exclaimed in disbelief, "Wait, Crystal Beast? As in the legendary Crystal Beasts?"

Jesse got a smirk on his face, "That's right". He then grabbed his deck and looked through it, "And now, since Sapphire Pegasus was summoned, I can place a Crystal Beast from my hand, deck or grave in one of my spell and trap card zones as a continuous".

He found the card he was looking for and grabbed it before he shuffled his deck and put it down, he then revealed the card of a mammoth with four tusks and an orange gem on its forehead, "I now place Crystal Beast Amber Mammoth in the spell and trap zone". He placed Amber Mammoth next to his face down card.

Jesse then grabbed his face down monster card, "And I'm not done, next I change my Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger from face down defense to attack mode". He flipped over his face down monster, revealing it was a card with the image of a white tiger with a bent horn on its head and a yellow gem on each side of its neck, Atk: 1600.

Jaden got a huge smile on his face, "He had Topaz Tiger face down? I was sure that it was Emerald Turtle since he is the Crystal Beast with the highest defense points". He had an amused tone in his voice when he said that since he knew that Jesse must've done it to trick the opponent so they wouldn't attack Topaz Tiger.

Jesse then grabbed another card in his hand, "Next I activate the equip spell card Crystal Release, now by equipping it to Sapphire Pegasus, he'll gain 800 more attack points". Sapphire Pegasus, Atk: 1800-2600.

Jesse then grabbed his face down card and flipped face up and it was a spell card with the image of a large green M on it, "And next I activate the spell card M Force, now until the end phase of this turn, one Crystal Beast on my field gains 500 attack points and can inflict piercing damage, and I choose Topaz Tiger". Topaz Tiger, Atk: 1600-2100.

Jesse looked at Aria, "While I would like to take down your Magician's Valkyria, I'm more concerned about Shane's monsters".

Jesse then pointed at Batteryman D, "Now Topaz Tiger, attack his Batteryman D, also since Topaz Tiger is attacking an opposing monster, his special ability gives him 400 attack points during the battle only". Topaz Tiger, Atk: 2100-2500.

Shane gritted his teeth as he placed Batteryman D in his graveyard while Aria wrote down the damage they took, Shane & Aria LP: 5600-5000.

Jesse then pointed at Super-Electromagnetic Voltech Dragon before he said with a serious tone, "Now Sapphire Pegasus, attack his Super-Electromagnetic Voltech Dragon with Sapphire Tornado".

Shane growled in anger while he placed his Voltech Dragon in his graveyard while Aria once again the damage they took, Shane & Aria LP: 5000-4800.

Jesse looked at his hand before he grabbed two cards in his hand and placed them face down on the table, "Now I end my turn by placing two cards face down and end my turn, which also means that the effect of M Force ends now". Topaz Tiger, Atk: 2100-1600.

Jaden smiled a little when he heard the excited tone in Jesse's voice, _Jesse is the only one who gets just as excited as me when it comes to dueling, Alexis also loves dueling, however she usually is more serious during the duels than us_ , he thought while he mentally chuckled.

Aria placed her fingers on her deck, "It's my turn, I draw". Aria drew her next card and looked at it, "I summon Maha Vailo in attack mode". She placed a card with the image of a magician in a dark blue robe with a hat that yellows which two had two red orbs on and with two wing like blades coming out of his robe, Atk: 1550.

She grabbed a card in her hand. "Next, I equip him with the spell card Mage Power." she said with a satisfied tone as she placed a spell card with the image of three mages at an altar.

Aria got a satisfied smile on her face when she saw Jesse's and Alexis's expressions, "I can see that you two know what this means. For each spell and trap card on our field, Maha Vailo gains 500 attack and defense points, so with three he gains 1500, also thanks to his own special ability, he also gains 500 points for each card equipped to him, which means he'll gain 2000 attack points and 1500 defense points". Maha Vailo, Atk & Def: 1550-3550/1400-2900.

Aria however looked at Jesse's face down card as well as Alexis's face down, _I don't know what kind of trap cards this Jesse guy could have in order to support the Crystal Beasts, also I don't know if that girl Alexis has another card like Magic Cylinder or something that will destroy my attacking monster, so I need to be careful_ , Aria thought to herself while she narrowed her eyes.

Aria pointed at Alexis, "I'll attack your Etoile Cyber with my Magician's Valkyria". Alexis struggled to keep a smirk from appearing on her face since she had hoped that Aria would do just that.

Shane on the other hand looked at Aria irritated, "What are you thinking?! If you had attacked with Maha Vailo you could've inflicted over 2000 points of damage to them". However Aria ignored his angry words and just watched Alexis who flipped up her face down card which was a trap card with the image of a ballerina who had the spotlight on her.

"Not so fast, I now activate the trap card Doble Passe! Now since you attacked a monster on our field, your attack now becomes a direct attack, and then the monster you attacked is allowed to strike back at you directly". Alexis wrote down the damage she and Jesse took, Jesse & Alexis LP: 8000-6400.

Alexis then looked up at Aria as she lifted her pen, "Also, thanks to Etoile Cyber's special ability, she gains 600 attack points when she attacks the opponent directly". Etoile Cyber, Atk: 1200-1800.

Aria narrowed her eyes and wrote down the damage she and Shane took, Shane & Aria LP: 4800-3000.

Shane looked at Aria with an irritated expression, "You were too cautious! If you had attack with Maha Vailo then that could've been almost 3600 points of direct damage to them". Aria glared at him, not liking the angry tone he was using since she wasn't as reckless as he was.

Aria then looked at Alexis again, "I now attack your Etoile Cyber with my Maha Vailo". Alexis placed Etoile Cyber in her graveyard and wrote down the damage, Jesse & Alexis LP: 6400-4050.

Aria then looked at her hand and grabbed one of cards, placing it face down on the field, "Next I place one card face down, which means that Maha Vailo gains another 500 points thanks to Mage Power". Maha Vailo, Atk & Def: 3550-4050/2900-3400.

Shane looked at Aria, "If you had placed that down first, we could've inflicted more damage to them". He complained with an irritated tone.

Aria looked at him with an irritated expression on her face, "I was worried that it might be a card that reflects damage equal to the attacking monster's attack points to its owner again, which is why I chose to not place it down since we would've had less than 1000 if I had been right".

She then spoke with an irritated voice, "If you want to inflict damage to them so badly, then why didn't you attack with my Magician's Valkyria as well?"

Shane gritted his teeth and turned his face away from her, "I wanted to, however I didn't want to hear you complain about how I attacked recklessly with your monster". He said with a low, irritated tone.

Alexis placed her fingers, "Alright, if you two are done, it's my move now". She drew her next card right after she said that and looked at it, "I now activate Pot of Greed, which means I draw two more cards".

She drew two more cards and looked at them, she then placed both of them and grabbed another card in her hand, "I summon Cyber Tutu in attack mode". She placed a card with the image of a girl dressed in a red and light blue ballerina dress with a little skirt on the table, Atk: 1000.

Alexis looked at Aria with a smirk, "Now I activate Cyber Tutu's special ability, since she's the weakest monster on the field, she can bypass your monsters and attack your life points directly, which is exactly what she's going to do". Aria narrowed her eyes and wrote down the damage, Shane & Aria LP: 3000-2000.

Alexis then pointed at Magician's Valkyria, "And next, Topaz Tiger is going to attack Magician's Valkyria, which means that he gets 400 points during the battle only". Topaz Tiger, Atk: 1600-2000.

Aria once again wrote down the damage while Shane struggled to not slam his fist on the table, Shane & Aria LP: 2000-1600.

She then turned her eyes to Maha Vailo, "And next, Sapphire Pegasus is going to attack your Maha Vailo as well".

Shane raised an eyebrow, "You're attacking a monster that has higher attack points than your own? What are you planning?"

Alexis had a smirk on her face as she grabbed one of the cards in her hand, "I'll just activate this". She got a satisfied expression on her face when both Aria's and Shane's eyes widened when they saw the spell card she was holding.

"Thanks to Mystical Space Typhoon, I can destroy one spell or trap card on the field, and I think I'm going to pick you're Mage Power, which means that Maha Vailo loses all of the power he gained".

Aria gritted her teeth and placed Mage Power in the graveyard, Maha Vailo, Atk & Def: 4050-1550/3400-1400.

Alexis looked at Aria, "Which means that Sapphire Pegasus is now strong enough to destroy Maha Vailo and reduces your life points by 1050." she said with a satisfied grin when she saw how Shane gritted his teeth while Aria placed Maha Vailo in the graveyard and wrote down the damage, Shane & Aria LP: 1600-550.

Alexis then looked at Jesse who noticed and looked at her. He immediately understood her silent question and nodded his head. Alexis got a smile on her face and grabbed a card in her and placed it on the table, "Now I place one card face down and end my turn".

Shane placed his fingers on his deck, "Alright, time for me to turn this duel around". He drew his next card and looked at it.

Aria however flipped over her face down card, "I now activate the trap card Call of the Haunted, and I'll use it to bring back Super-Electromagnetic Voltech Dragon in attack mode". She took out Voltech out of the graveyard and placed him in attack mode on the table again, Atk: 2400.

Shane looked Aria shocked, "You brought back my Voltech Dragon?" he asked her with a surprised tone.

Aria looked at Shane and said with a serious voice, "We need to make a comeback this turn or else they'll take our place in the tournament, which is why I brought him back". Shane narrowed his eyes since he knew that she was right.

Shane placed a spell card with the image of an angel with a glowing card floating over her hands, "I now activate the spell card Graceful Charity, which means I can draw three cards, but then I need to discard two from my hand".

Shane drew three more cards and looked at them, he then got a smirk on his face before he grabbed the only card in his hand as well as one of the cards he had just drawn and placed them in the graveyard.

Shane then grabbed one of his face down cards, "Next, I activate my own Call of the Haunted, and with it, I bring back the monster I just discarded, come forth, Batteryman AA". He took a card with the image of a round battery with yellow head, arms and legs, Atk: 0.

Shane then flipped his other face down card face up and it was a spell card with the image of skeletons bursting out of the ground, "Next I activate the spell card Inferno Reckless Summon! Now since I special summoned a monster with 1500 or less attack points, I can special summon all the copies I have on that monster from my hand, deck and graveyard in attack mode".

Shane grabbed his deck and looked through it and then grabbed two cards before he shuffled his deck and placed two more Batteryman AAs on the field, Atk x 2:0.

Shane then held out his hand, "Next, the special ability of my three Batteryman AA's activates, now for every Batteryman AA I have on the field in the same position, they gain 1000 points in that position, which means that all three of them now gain 3000 attack points". Batteryman AA x 3, Atk: 0-3000.

Alexis narrowed her eyes troubled, "Three monsters with 3000 attack points?"

Jesse looked at her, "Now Inferno Reckless would allow one of us to special summon all copies of one monster on our field, however there exist only one copy of each Crystal Beast, what about you?"

Alexis shook her head, "I only have on Cyber Tutu in my deck, which means that I can't special summon anything either".

Shane got a smirk on his face when he heard that before he declared with a confident tone, "Now, my first Batteryman AA will attack you're Cyber Tutu".

Jesse at that moment flipped one of his face down cards face up and it was a trap card with the image of a beach chair on the moon turned towards the earth, "Not so fast, since you just declared an attack, I'll activate the trap card Last Resort!"

Shane looked at the teal-haired teen confused, "Last Resort? What does that do? He had a worried tone in his voice since he had never seen that card and was worried if it would inflict damage to them.

Jesse grabbed his deck before he said with a happy tone, "I can only activate this when you declare an attack, it now allows me to immediately activate a field spell card from my deck".

He grabbed a card in his deck and shuffled it before he placed it down on the table and placed a spell card with the image of ruins with a rainbow over them, "Now I activate the field spell card Ancient City – Rainbow Ruins!"

He then grabbed his other face down card and flipped it face up and it was a trap card with the image of a warrior and a monster switching places, "Next I activate the trap card Shift, which allows me to change the target of one of your spell or trap effects or one of your attacks to another monster, in this case Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus".

Shane's eyes widened in shock for a few seconds before he gritted his teeth while Alexis wrote down the damage, Jesse & Alexis LP: 4050-3650.

Jesse then held up both Sapphire Pegasus and Crystal Release, "Next, I activate the effects of both Sapphire Pegasus and Crystal Release, which means I can place Sapphire Pegasus in one of the spell and trap card zones, also since Crystal Release left the field so can I take one Crystal Beast from my deck and place in a spell and trap zone".

Jesse placed Sapphire Pegasus next to Amber Mammoth before he grabbed his deck and looked through it before he grabbed a card in it, "Now I place Crystal Beast Emerald Turtle in the spell and trap card zones". He placed a card of a large green turtle next to Sapphire Pegasus.

Shane gritted his teeth before he pointed at Cyber Tutu, "I'll attack Cyber Tutu again with my second Batteryman AA".

Jesse crossed his arms with a smile on his face, "Sure, however thanks to Ancient City – Rainbow Ruins, since I have at least two Crystal Beasts in our spell and trap card zones, I can cut the damage we'll take in half once per turn".

Shane growled when he heard the happy tone in Jesse's voice while Alexis wrote down the damage, Jesse & Alexis LP: 3650-2650.

Jesse pointed at Topaz Tiger, "Now my final Batteryman AA will get rid of your Topaz Tiger!" Alexis sighed and wrote down the damage, Jesse & Alexis LP: 2650-1250. Jesse then placed Topaz Tiger on the other side of Amber Mammoth.

Shane then got a confident smirk on his face, "Now it's time to end this, I'll attack you directly with Super-Electromagnetic Voltech Dragon!"

However Alexis flipped her face down card face up and it was a spell card with the image of four sheep, "Not so fast, I activate the spell card Scapegoat, thanks to this card I can special summon four Sheep Tokens to our field in defense mode". She then placed four gray cards with a sheep on them in defense mode on the table, Def x 4: 0.

Shane gritted his teeth, "Fine, Voltech Dragon, destroy the first Sheep Token". Alexis took and removed the first Sheep Token from the field.

He looked at the last card in his hand, he gritted his teeth before he said with a bitter tone, "I end my turn, however with the field we have, there is no way you can win this duel".

Jesse looked at the card he had in his hand while he slightly narrowed his eyes, _He's wrong, if I draw the right Crystal Beast, I can attack it with just one attack, however if possible, I would like to summon this card since I haven't had the chance to summon him for a while_ , he thought with a sad smile on his face.

He placed his fingers on his deck, "It's my turn, I draw". He drew his next card and he looked at it. He then looked at Shane, "Now I activate Ancient City – Rainbow Ruins effect, once per turn during my main phase, if I have at least four Crystal Beasts in the spell and trap cards zones so can I draw a card."

He drew another card and looked at it. He turned the card around and revealed that it was a spell card with the image of two gems and two cards, "Next, I'll activate the spell card Rare Value, since I have at least two Crystal Beasts in our spell and trap cards zones, I can send one to the graveyard in order to draw two cards".

Jesse placed Emerald Turtle in the graveyard before he drew two more cards, he then revealed one of them, "Next I activate the spell card Foolish Burial which lets me send a monster from my deck to the grave".

Jesse grabbed his deck and looked through it. He grabbed one of the cards and shuffled it, he then revealed the card and it was a purple cat with a large crystal ball on its tail, "I send my good friend Crystal Beast Ruby Carbuncle to the graveyard". Jesse informed the others before he placed Ruby Carbuncle in the graveyard.

Jaden narrowed his eyes, "Three Crystal Beasts on his field and two in the grave, that's five, is he planning on summoning that monster?" Jaden asked himself. He knew that while most of Jesse's Crystal Beasts didn't have that high attack points, he had one monster that was like his secret weapon.

However Jaden was brought out of his thoughts by a happy voice, "I think he is". Looking over next to him, he saw the older brown haired boy he had seen before. The older teen looked at Jaden with a smile, "Hi Jaden, surprised to see you here, even though I know you're good enough to be here".

Jaden got a smile on his face. "Hello Atticus, does Alexis know that you're here?" he asked, curious if his friend knew her older brother was there too.

Atticus shook his head, "I told our parents about this. We did tell Lexi that I had been invited to a special event, however we didn't really tell her what event. Thought she might be jealous and wonder why she wasn't since she is good enough to become a pro, just like you and Jesse". He had a proud expression on his face while he praised their dueling abilities and Jaden's smile got bigger.

Atticus then looked at him with a confused expression, "Although I'm actually surprised, this is a very competitive competition and you usually just want to duel for fun".

Jaden got a troubled expression and turned back towards the duel, "We'll explain what's going on once Jesse and Alexis wins this duel". Atticus looked at Jaden worried when he heard the suppressed worry in his younger childhood friend's voice, but decided to wait until he was ready to tell him what was wrong.

Jesse then grabbed another card in his hand, "Next, I activate the spell card I just drew, Crystal Bond!" He placed a spell card with the image of Ruby Carbuncle being patted while lying on a person's lap.

Jesse once again grabbed his deck, "This card lets me add one Crystal Beast from my deck to my hand, and then I can also place one with a different name in our spell and trap card zone as well".

He revealed two cards, one of a pink panther with a purple gem at her chest with golden wings surrounding it and one with the image of an eagle with a blue gem on his chest and on the top of the inside of his wings.

"I'll add Crystal Amethyst Cat to my hand and then I'll place Crystal Beast Cobalt Eagle in the spell and trap card zone". Jesse then placed Cobalt Eagle in the spell and trap card zone.

Jesse then held up Amethyst Cat's card, "And next I also summon Amethyst Cat in attack mode". He then placed Amethyst Cat's card on the table, Atk: 1200.

Jaden got a smirk on his face, "And now all seven of the Crystal Beasts are on his field and in his graveyard, which means that he can summon it, also since he has Amethyst Cat on the field, he can win just by using her special ability".

Atticus nodded his head, "You're right, this duel is just about over".

Shane looked at Jesse with a smirk on his face, "You went through all of that work just to bring that to the field? That kitty of yours is the weakest monster on the field".

Jesse's got a smirk on his face when he heard Shane's mocking tone while he grabbed one of the two cards in his hand, "Well you see, there is two ways I can win this duel now, if I use Amethyst Cat's special ability, I can attack you directly by simply cutting her attack points in half which means that you would take 600 points of damage. However since I have a chance to summon this card, I plan on doing it".

Shane got a worried expression on his face, "What kind of monster are you about to summon?"

Jesse held up the card he had grabbed, "When all seven Crystal Beasts are on my field and in my graveyard, I can special summon this monster from my hand". He flipped the card around and it was a card with the image of a white serpentine dragon with seven different colored gems alongside its neck with two white feathered wings and golden metal wings attached to the sides of its chest.

"I now summon Rainbow Dragon in attack mode!" Jesse placed the dragon card on the table, Atk: 4000.

Shane looked at Rainbow Dragon's card in horror, "4-4000 attack points?" He barely managed to get the words out as he couldn't believe his eyes while Aria sighed disappointed since she knew that the duel was over.

Jesse's smirk grew bigger and then pointed at the Batteryman that had been summoned with the help of Call of the Haunted, "Alright Rainbow Dragon, attack his first Batteryman with Rainbow Refraction and end this duel".

Aria sighed disappointed again and wrote down the damage while a frustrated Shane slammed his fist on the table, Shane & Aria LP: 550-0.

"That was completely unfair!" the ginger snarled in frustration, "You didn't say anything about having any special cards! Why do you even have those, they was only one set made! You seriously expect me to believe your the own to get ahold of this rare set?!"

Jesse did not reply as his green eyes narrowed. He was expecting Shane to be angry over losing the duel, but he wasn't expecting him to be angry to the point of accusing him of foul play. Glancing over at Aria, he could see her glaring angrily at the ginger-haired teen. He could easily tell she was angry about losing as well, but was trying to hide it. In the end, the two were polar opposites with contrasting playstyles.

"Really you're accusing us of cheating." Alexis voiced her frustration, surprising both Shane and Aria, "You were both good. Did you notice the one time you finally actually came up with a good move was when you both ended up coming together out of desperation to turn the duel around. The only reason you lost was because you were both were constantly bickering instead of working as a team."

Shane and Aria stared in shock before glancing over at each other. It was true; for the most part, they had played like they were in a single duel. The only time the bickering had ended was when they both finally shared the same goal in mind. Thinking back, the two had to admit their partner did indeed bring up valid points during the duel. Shane played too recklessly yet Aria played too cautiously; the two could now see the elements they lacked.  
The ginger-headed teen chuckled as he glanced toward the ground, wishing his pockets weren't full so he could stuff his hand into them.

"You're right cu-, I mean, Alexis." he apologized, his voice lacking its usual cockiness, "Guess I still have a lot to learn as a duelist. Suppose we should stay true to our agreement. Better not make a waste of our spots."

Without another word, the two teens handed over their gloves and star chips to the victors.  
Shane couldn't help but still feel annoyed about losing his spot in such an important event, but accepted it nonetheless. Knowing he could no longer stick around, he began to leave. But before he left, he heard a voice call out for him. Turning around, he saw Aria standing behind him.  
The curly blonde said nothing as she ran over and grabbed the boy's deck out of his hand. She quickly, silently, flipped through the cards until she found the one she was looking for.

Her blue eyes narrowed as she held up the monster card, Super-Electromagnetic Voltech Dragon. She still had so much to learn about dueling, especially when it came to her own weaknesses. Because of this, she was determined to overcome them, but she couldn't do it without help. She needed her polar opposite.

"Let make more moments like this and continue working together." she said, her voice laced with stern yet kindness.

Shane was taken back, he was stunned Aria was actually wanting to continue to work with him. If anything, he expected her to not want anything to do with him after the duel ended. But despite this, he couldn't say he was disgusted at the idea. In truth he was both relieved and thrilled the blonde was willing to work with him. If there was anything he could learn from his partner that would help him improve, he would be willing to take it. With this mind, he immediately accepted the offer.

"Well, they seemed to work things out." Jaden commented as he approached his friends.

Alexis turned around to respond but froze in shock when she saw Atticus. Her mouth dropped open in disbelief.

After a few moments of silence, she finally shouted "Atticus, this was the competition you mentioned?!"

The older teen chuckled nervously while rubbing the back of his head, replying "Figured your reaction would be something along those lines. Why don't we just all get settled as the ship gets ready to leave before explaining ourselves."

The group of teens nodded in agreement, feeling this was the best course of action. Without another word, the three walked away, feeling the ship's deck would be the best place to talk.  
Atticus was about to follow behind until he noticed a small glow coming out from underneath his black shirt. A frown formed on his face before taking a quick look around, making sure no one was looking toward his direction.

Seeing there was no attention focused on him, he grabbed a small rope that hung around his neck, tugging on it in order to pull out the pendant surrounded by a large ring attached to it. His brows furrowed in concern, noticing the ring was glowing brightly with the prongs pointing in the direction Jaden and the others had went. He sighed as he shoved the ring back in his shirt before finally heading out to catch up with his companions.


	4. Chapter 4 - Set Sail

Yu-Gi-Oh! Reversal

Chapter 4

"So that's how you came to enter this competition." Atticus commented whilst leaning on the ship's railing, having been told the entire story about Crowler and the Shadow Game.

Jaden inhaled deeply through his nose, allowing his hands to dangle off of the railing. His eyes focused on the dark waves as the ship sailed to its destination.

"Yeah. But despite this, I still don't regret dueling Zane." he stated, "If I hadn't dueled Zane, Syrus would have been miserable from being forced to stay away from me. Winning that duel to save our friendship was worth it, even if it ended up leading to this."

The older teen frowned a bit, his hand unconsciously resting atop of the ring underneath his shirt. Fortunately he quickly banished the frown, forming a smile on his face.

"Well I suppose this does give me the chance to spend more time with my sis's future husband." he stated happily.

Upon hearing this, Alexis's face turned blood red; her brown eyes wide. Without warning, she grabbed her brother by the ear and started to drag him off. The only thing that could be heard as she left was her mutters of needing to talk and Atticus's yelps of pain as he was pulled along.  
Jaden chuckled nervously. He found the sight amusing but couldn't help but feel sorry for the teen, especially when he was about to suffer Alexis's wrath. Glancing back at Jesse, the two shared a small laugh with each other.

But before they could say anything else, a male voice spoke up "Say, aren't you one of the duelists that beat that Aria and Shane?"

Turning around, the two turned around to see a teenage boy the same age as them.  
The teen had gray eyes with slicked back and nicely styled black hair. He was dressed in a green shirt and open yellow jacket with black pants. He wore a smile on his face but his brows were raised, clearing showing his unspoken interest.

Deciding to at least be polite, Jesse returned the smile as he answered "Yeah, that would be me. Name's Jesse Anderson. So who might you be?"

The dark-haired teen blinked in surprise before immediately chuckling and holding out his hand.

"My name is Bastion Misawa, assistant to Dr. Eisenstein. It is because of this status I actually was recruited for this competition." he introduced himself.

Jaden furrowed his brows in confusion as he watched Jesse shake Bastion's hand. While he didn't want to doubt Bastion's skills, he found it strange the apprentice of a doctor was recruited into a tournament solely focused on a card game. Unless that doctor specialized in the workings of the holographic technology Zane had shown him during his duel with him, he found it unrealistic for Crowler to consider the teen before him one of the world's best duelists. He was drawn out of his thoughts when he noticed Bastion's attention was now solely focused on him.

Seeing the teen had extended his hand toward him, he knew immediately that he was waiting for an introduction. Feeling it would be strange to remain silent, especially after his friend had already introduced himself, he accepted the handshake and stated his name.

"Hmm, Jaden Yuki is it?" Bastion hummed thoughtfully, "Well if you play anything like your friend over here, I certainly will be interested in dueling you. I hope you won't mind, but would you permit me to watch a few of your matches before officially challenging you?"

The brunette was a little puzzled by the teenager, but he couldn't deny curiosity lingered in his mind. He found the idea interesting of going against someone who would end up being quite familiar with his tactics. Not only did he believe the duel would be challenging, he believed it would be fun as both of them gave it their all. Little to his surprise, he could even sense the faint presence of Haou showing much interest in the idea. He knew the spirit always did crave a challenge as much as he did. So without any second thoughts, he immediately agreed to the offer.

With the agreement made, Bastion took a quick glance at his surroundings whilst adjusting the bag on his shoulder.

"Hmm, not many duelists out here, I suppose that should be a sign everyone is inside getting settled. Shall we be off then?" he suggested.

Both Jaden and Jesse glanced at each other in confusion before turning back toward their companion, prompting them to both ask "What do you mean 'we'?"

It took a few minutes for the two to receive their answer. The two teenage boys stood in shock and disbelief. Instead of all participants being given separate rooms, all the duelists were instead gathered in a single room with multiple mats to sleep on and multiple shelves to store possessions. They were so shocked, they failed to see Atticus and Alexis enter the room, having returned from their chat.

"Wait, this is where everyone is going to sleep?" Alexis asked out of surprise, "I mean it's great to get to interact with others before the competition starts. But still, with a ship this large you would think it would surely have more rooms."

Suddenly, without warning, a nasally voice commented "Oh they do."

The group turned around to see none other than Weevil and an annoyed looking Rex.

Weevil chuckled whilst pushing up his glasses, "I'm sure my companion and I need no introductions. Though just to be sure, I'm Weevil Underwood and this over here is Rex Raptor. With that aside, as I said earlier, this ship does have private accommodations. Of course it's only two rooms and those rooms were reserved for the finalists in the regional, that being Rex and I."

"Though like that matters considering those morons gave my room away to some rich snob! It was my room in the first place you dolts!" Rex snapped.

The glasses wearing boy rolled his eyes at the hot tempered teen before shifting his attention toward Jesse and Jaden. His eyes narrowed slightly at the two. Despite having confidence in his skills, he couldn't help but worry about the two. With Jaden, it worried him how he could beat someone skilled as Zane Truesdale, a prominent duelist in the pro dueling world. Yet he couldn't be certain as to how the brunette defeated the pro-duelist, considering the possibility of it being a fluke. Something he was convinced was supported by Zane's coma. That only left him to worry about the remaining person on his mind, Jesse Anderson.

His body tensed in frustration at the thought of the teal-haired teen being in possession of a rare deck. With Alexis, he was not worried as he was very familiar with the Cyber Girl deck. Yet with the Crystal Beasts, he was not granted this luxury. He recalled the deck was extremely rare with only one copy of the deck being made. There was mystery surrounding Chronos Cog's decision to not issue more copies, even prompting the curious public to spawn rumors. But the reasons for Jesse owning the deck were no concern to Weevil, rather he was more concerned of it being a potential threat in the competition.

He did his best from allowing his teeth to clench in frustration. He had seen the deck's potential when it claimed victory against Shane and Aria; a potential he never wanted wished upon himself. It was then he immediately made up his mind. No matter what, he had to nullify the threat. With his mind set, he smirked with a sly chuckle.

"Ignore my raging companion over here." he said, earning an angry glare from Rex as he continued whilst facing the teal-haired teen, "Anyways I was wondering if you're interested in a bit of a friendly duel before the competition. I am quite eager to test out my deck against the supposed rare Crystal Beasts. If you like, we can head to my room so the duel can be uninterrupted."

"Well I see no problem, heck I imagine the others will like to see you deck in action in person." Jesse replied happily.

Weevil nearly had to avoid bursting into laughter before immediately clearing his throat.

"I'm sorry, I've seem to have given you the impression your friends are coming along. No you see, it's only going to be the two of us. The privacy grants more focus otherwise we would just duel in here with everyone else." he stated slyly.

Jaden frowned slightly upon hearing this. Unlike Bastion, he could sense clear ill intent in the young teen's word to the point it was impossible not to be suspicious. He wasn't sure if it was his instincts, or simply Haou rubbing off on him too much; either way he couldn't shake the worrying thoughts. Deciding to at least give the teen the benefit of the doubt, Jaden pushed aside his troubling thoughts.

"You should go, Jesse. After all it's not everyday that a regional champ challenges you to a duel." he encouraged with a smile.

Jesse was stunned by his friend's words. He had expected him to be just as concerned as he was. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but the tone of Weevil's voice only made his skin crawl. Nonetheless, he decided to have faith in his friend. After all, Weevil seemed nothing like Crowler so he didn't see anything to be worried about. With a small wave of his wand, he left the room with Weevil.

"Well..." Jaden began with his hand resting behind head whilst facing Alexis, "While Jesse is doing that, why don't we have our own duel. After watching that duel, I'm quite eager to face you myself. What do you say, Lex?"

The blonde-haired girl smirked in reply as she readied her deck.

Meanwhile, in one of the private rooms of the ship, a teen with spiky black hair groaned as he paced the room. He held a cellphone firmly up against his ear, his gray eyes narrowed in exhaustion and annoyance.

"Now Chazz, this is an important so don't you dare screw it up." an older masculine voice said from the cellphone, "Jagger and I have already done our parts by reaching the top of the political and financial ladder. Now we need you to reach the top of the dueling ladder and this competition is the perfect opportunity to do so."

Chazz Princeton sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Yeah I heard you the last hundred times you told me, Slade." he grumbled, "Don't worry, I can handle a bunch of slackers."

"Says the slacker." Slade replied, his stern tone not showing any kind of faith.

The black-haired teen had to bite back a growl of frustration. He never understood why his older brothers chose to look down on him. It seemed no matter what he did, his brothers viewed him as a slacker.

"You still have the briefcase with the cards we gave you in it right?" the sibling's voice emitted from the phone, stirring Chazz from his thoughts.

He bit his lip as he glanced over at the silver briefcase, confirming its existence. He shared a few more small interactions with Slade before finally his brother hang up. Once the call had ended, the fifteen year old let out a frustrated groan. He then collapsed back down on his bed. He both hated and wished to fulfill the expectations his brothers had placed on him. Nearly everything was riding on him winning the tournament. Taking a deep breath, his gaze focused on a single deck case on his dresser. He frowned slightly as he picked it up and studied the cards inside.

At that moment he found himself torn. He knew the cards inside the briefcase would easily guarantee victory, yet a part of him felt disgusted at that idea. Apart wanted to feel like he had earned victory rather than be given it, feeding into his temptation to use his own deck. Yet if he chose to duel with his deck, he understood that he could risk not only losing but angering his brothers. He let out one last grunt as he threw his head back.

"Why does everything have to be so complicated?" he muttered to himself.

Back with Jesse and Weevil, the teal-haired teen raised his brows in surprise at how decorated the room looked. Now he understand why the rooms were only reserved for Weevil and originally Rex. He redirected his attention to the glasses wearing duelist, watching him fish his cards out of the deck pack and take a seat at the table. Although still a bit suspicious of the entire situation, he took his respective seat as the two handed over and began shuffling each other's cards.  
Jesse handed back Weevil his deck while Weevil handed Jesse back his. Both of them placed their decks on the table and drew their first five cards.

Jesse placed his fingers on his deck and looked at Weevil, "If it's fine, I'll make the first move". Weevil nodded his head and Jesse drew his sixth card.

He looked at the card he had drawn and a smile appeared on his face as he stated "First I place a monster face down in defense mode." He placed a monster face down in defense mode on the table.

"And next…" He said as he grabbed a card in his hand with a smile on his face before he placed it face down on the table, "I place one card face down and end my turn".

Weevil narrowed his eyes and adjusted his glasses, "That's all? I expected more from the legendary Crystal Beasts." Jesse narrowed his eyes when he heard the teen's mocking tone.

Weevil placed his fingers on his deck whilst narrowing his eyes behind his glasses. _I noticed that that the Crystal Beasts are the strongest when they work together, I just hope I can finish this before he's able to get all seven of them so he can't summon that Rainbow Dragon,_ he thought to himself as he drew his next card and looked at it.

"I summon Flying Kamakiri #1 in attack mode." He placed a card with a green bug with four wings, four arms and two legs on the field, Atk: 1400.

He pointed at Jesse's face down monster, "Now Flying Kamakiri #1, attack his face down monster." He had a confident smirk on his face until he noticed the smirk on his opponent's face.

Jesse grabbed his face down monster and flipped it face up, "You just attacked my good buddy Crystal Beast Emerald Turtle." he said with a happy tone while placing Emerald Tortoise face up in defense mode, Def: 2000.

Weevil gritted his teeth as he wrote down the damage he took, Weevil LP: 4000-3400.

He grabbed a card in his hand and placed it face down on the table, "I place one card face down and end my turn."

Jesse placed his fingers on his deck, "My turn now." He drew his next card and looked at it, he then revealed that it was Pot of Greed, "Now thanks to Pot of Greed, I draw two more cards."

He drew two more cards and looked at them, "First I activate the spell card Crystal Bond, which means I can place one Crystal Beast in one of my spell and trap card zones and add another to my hand."

He grabbed his deck, carefully looking through it. after his search was finished, he grabbed two cards before reshuffling the deck. With an excited smirk he revealed both, one being Topaz Tiger and the other Sapphire Pegasus, "I'll place Topaz Tiger in my spell and trap card zone and add Sapphire Pegasus to my hand." Jesse then placed Topaz Tiger in one of his spell and trap card zones.

Continuing his plan of action, he held out Sapphire Pegasus's card, "And next, I summon Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus in attack mode." He placed Sapphire Pegasus on the table before grabbing his deck again.

"Since I summoned Sapphire Pegasus, I can take a Crystal Beast from my deck, hand or grave and place it in one of my spell and trap card zones, and I choose Crystal Beast Ruby Carbuncle."

He looked through his deck and grabbed Ruby's card once he found it, reshuffling his deck one he finished. He placed Ruby next to Topaz Tiger.

The teal-haired teen looked over at Weevil with a smirk, "And next I activate Ruby's special ability! You see, if Ruby is in one of my spell and trap card zones, I can special summon him to the field, and if he's special summoned, I can also special summon all Crystal Beasts in my spell and trap card zones, which means I also summon Topaz Tiger."

He placed Ruby in attack mode, Atk: 300. He then placed Topaz Tiger in attack mode next to him, Atk: 1600.

"And next I switch Emerald Turtle to attack mode as well." Jesse said with a happy tone as he switched Emerald Turtle to attack mode, Atk: 600.

He grabbed one more card from his hand, "Next I activate the spell card M Force and target Emerald Turtle, giving him 500 more attack points this turn." Emerald Turtle, Atk: 600-1100.

Jesse then pointed at Flying Kamakiri #1, "Now Topaz Tiger, attack Flying Kamakiri #1." Topaz Tiger, Atk: 1600-2000.

Weevil gritted his teeth and placed Flying Kamakiri #1 in his graveyard before he wrote down the damage, Weevil LP: 3400-2800. Topaz Tiger, Atk: 2000-1600.

He grabbed his deck and looked through it, "However, now Flying Kamakiri's special ability activates, I can special summon a wind attribute monster with 1500 or less attack points from my deck in attack mode, so come forth, Flying Kamakiri #2." He exclaimed as he grabbed a card in his deck before he shuffled it, he then placed a card with the image of a mantis with large scythe like arms, Atk: 1500.

Jesse's smile grew bigger, "That won't really help you, now Sapphire Pegasus, attack his Flying Kamakiri #2."

Weevil gritted his teeth again as he also placed Flying Kamakiri in his graveyard and wrote down the damage, Weevil LP: 2800-2500.

Jesse then pointed at his opponent, "Now I'll attack you directly with both Ruby and Emerald Turtle." He said and Weevil once again wrote down the damage, Weevil LP: 2500-1100.

He grabbed Emerald Turtle's card. "And now, I use Emerald Turtle's special ability, which allows me to switch him back to defense mode." he explained before he switched Emerald Turtle back to defense mode, Def: 2000.

Jesse looked at Weevil, "And with that, I end my turn, which means that the effects of M Force now ends". Emerald Turtle, Atk: 1100-600.

Weevil placed his fingers on his deck, "My move." He drew his next card and looked at it, he then got a smirk on his face, "I summon Pinch Hopper in attack mode." He placed a card with the image of a green grasshopper on the table, Atk: 1000.

He grabbed his face down card and flipped face up, revealing it was a spell card with the image of a hand with a can of insect spray, "And now, I activate the spell card Eradicating Aerosol, now I can destroy one insect monster on the field, and I choose my Pinch Hopper".

He grabbed Pinch Hopper and placed him in his graveyard, he then grabbed another card in his hand, "Now Pinch Hopper's special ability activates, since he was sent from my field to my graveyard, I can special summon an insect from my hand, and I choose Metal Armored Bug in attack mode."

The teen revealed a card with the image of a large insect with a metal shell, Atk: 2800.

Jesse narrowed his eyes, "2800 attack points?" He muttered troubled.

Upon hearing fifteen year-old's muttering, Weevil just chuckled and grabbed another card in his hand. He flipped it over, revealing it to be a spell card with the image of a monster getting its energy sucked out of it, "Actually, he's about to gain a bit more, because I'm about to activate the spell card Riryoku".

His smirk got bigger when he saw the worried expression on his opponent's face, sly taunting "By the look on your face, I guess you know that thanks to this spell card I can target two monsters, the first target then loses half of its attack points and then the second target gains the same amount, and these changes lasts until the end of the turn."

Weevil pointed at Sapphire Pegasus, "First, I target your Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus, which means he'll lose 900 attack points, which will then get transferred to my Metal Armored Bug." Sapphire Pegasus, Atk: 1800-900. Metal Armored Bug, Atk: 2800-3700.

Weevil then pointed at Ruby, "Now Metal Armored Bug, attack his Crystal Beast Ruby Carbuncle."

Jesse however quickly flipped over his face down card, showing it was a trap card with the image of a man cutting a rock in half, revealing that that it was a gem on the inside.

"I activate the trap card Cut Jewel! Now by sending a Crystal Beast from my deck to my graveyard, I can cut one of your monster's original attack points in half".

Jesse picked up his deck and looked through it and then grabbed a card in it before he shuffled the deck, "Now I send Crystal Beast Cobalt Eagle to my graveyard in order to activate the effect of Cut Jewel." He declared as he placed Cobalt Eagle in his graveyard, Metal Armored Bug, Atk: 3700-2300.

He then placed Ruby in one of his spell and trap card zones and wrote down the damage he had taken, Jesse LP: 4000-2000.

Weevil gritted his teeth, he was frustrated that he had failed to wipe out most of Jesse's life points, "I end my turn, which means that the effect of Riryoku ends". Metal Armored Bug, Atk: 2300-1400. Sapphire Pegasus, Atk: 900-1800.

Jesse sighed relieved as he placed his fingers on his deck. _That was closed, if I hadn't had Cut Jewel face down, I would've taken 3400 points of damage,_ he thought to himself while he drew his next card.

A smile appeared on Jesse's face when he saw what card he had drawn. It was a card Jaden had given him; he had told him it had helped him in the past and that it could help Jesse as well.

He turned the card around and revealed it to be a spell card with the image of two hands grabbing each other while energy traveled between the arms, "Now I equip Topaz Tiger with the spell card United We Stand, now, as long as he is equipped with this card, Topaz Tiger gains 800 attack and defense points for every monster on my field, including himself."

Weevil's eyes widened behind his glasses when he heard that, "Say what? But that means… he'll gain 2400 attack and defense points!" Topaz Tiger, Atk & Def: 1600-4000/1000-3400.

Jesse then pointed at Metal Armored Bug, "Now Topaz Tiger, attack his Metal Armored Bug!" Topaz Tiger, Atk: 4000-4400. Weevil's hand trembled as he wrote down the damage he took, Weevil LP: 1100-0.

Weevil couldn't believe it. He had utilized all his usual dueling tactics, yet nothing worked. He had hope if he know about the deck's tactics, he could easily defeat Jesse in the competition. But now, he no longer saw that as possible. His teeth clenched tightly. He refused to allow this threat to go unnoticed. Without any kind of warning and out of desperation, he quickly snatched the Crystal Beasts off the table. He couldn't help but smirk when he saw the confusion and disbelief painted on the teen's face. He wished he could have placed painted that expression on him from winning the duel, but he still remained satisfied with his current tactic.

Jesse found himself stunned yet not surprised. From the moment Weevil challenged him, he has suspected the regional champ had ulterior motives, but he would never imagine the teen to resort to stealing his deck. Acting on instincts alone, he quickly darted toward Weevil. Unfortunately the smaller teen proved to be more nimble and darted over to the door. He was about to pursue him again until he noticed the sly yet demented grin painted on his face. Once again the fifteen year-old managed to succeed in making his skin crawl with his grin.

"You know no matter where you run, I am going to get my deck back." Jesse threatened.

But sadly, this threat did not phase Weevil. Instead he chuckled as a he flipped twisted and turned the deck in his hand.

"You saw that, but I think your attitude will change if I were to get security involved." he taunted, "You already had a scuffle with them earlier. I'm sure I can easily make the claim you tried to attack me and they would take my side. Even if you told them the truth, who are they going to believe? Some guy who managed to only to get into the competition because of two cocky idiots, or the Duel Monsters Regional Champion that was personally invited by Crowler himself."

Jesse's body trembled in rage as he struggled to keep it in check. As much as he hated to admit it, Weevil was right. If security were to get involved they would be more inclined to believe the lie than the truth. He let out a frustrated sigh before allowing his shoulders to slump in defeat.  
The glasses wearing teen chuckled, relishing in the sight of a defeated opponent. With his goal accomplished, he opened the door to his room.

"You should go running back to your friends now. Thanks again for dueling me, it has been quite fulfilling." he said, each of his words dripping with smugness.

The teal-haired teen did not respond as he left the room, flinching when he heard the door slam behind him. His chest felt tight as he took in a deep breath. The Crystal Beasts were special to him, a deck he had treasured since a child. Losing them felt like someone had stabbed him in the chest. With depression and regret looming over him, he made his was back down to the main sleeping area. Once there, he could see his friends had just finished up a duel of their own. He wanted to smile at the sight, but couldn't find the heart to. His regrets only grew when he saw Jaden finally notice him.

"Hey Jesse!" the brunette greeted happily, "So did your duel with Weevil go?"

Jesse tried opening his mouth to respond, but quickly learned he lacked the strength to do so. Instead all he could do is let out a loud sigh as his green eyes flickered toward the ground, earning worried gazes from his friends.


	5. Chapter 5 - Jaden vs Weevil

Yu-Gi-Oh! Reversal

Chapter 5

Jaden was doing his best to contain his anger, clenching his fists so tightly that his knuckles turned white as he marched out on the ship's deck. After hearing how Weevil had stolen Jesse's deck, he was infuriated. Thinking back, the only time he had ever felt this much rage was when Zane had tried to sever his friendship with Syrus. He took in a deep breath as he could feel the sea breeze brushing against his face, slowly calming his anger. He couldn't help but close his eyes in content. As the wind continued to wash over him with its calming embrace, he felt a familiar presence settle beside him.

Cracking open one of his eyes, he could see Haou in his spiritual form next to him. The spirit didn't utter a single word, only staring out at the sea with a small frown. Jaden fully opened his eyes in surprise, he couldn't recall a time that Haou seemed so somber. As far as he knew, his spiritual companion was only capable of his stoic persona. In fact, he found is amusing to see this new side to his partner. However those thoughts vanished in an instant, seeing the ghostly brunette turn towards him with an annoyed glare.

"Will you stop gawking like a fool?" he stated in his usual stern tone. Haou took a pause to turn back toward the sea, "You should know why I'm here."

Jaden couldn't help but sigh, turning to gaze at the sea as well as he replied "Yeah I know, I could sense your rage the moment Jesse explained the situation with Weevil. It seems that you were just as disgusted with his actions as I was."

Haou raised a brow in surprise. Rarely did he consider Jaden the type to be angry with someone. After all, the brunette beside him seemed far too cheerful to be the type of person to hold a grudge.

"Is that so?" he questioned, a small smirk forming on his face, "It appears I have been rubbing off on you Jaden."

The fifteen year-old didn't reply immediately, silently lifting his elbows up onto the bar and rest his head in his hands. Had Haou's personality quirks began to rub off on him? He didn't believe so but he found it interesting the spirit seemed to think so. It was almost like the two were more similar in ways he did not know.

Taking a few more moments to come up with an answer, he shook his head whilst replying "I don't think so, it's more of that I don't like when anyone messes with my friends. They mean a lot to me."

Haou simply hummed in response, recalling the teen's emotional breakdown with Crowler had threatened to take the spirits of his two friends. He inhaled deeply through his nose, shifting his thoughts to the matter at hand.

"Regardless of the reason, it's clear we both wish to have Weevil pay for his actions." he stated, turning toward his companion with a strict gaze, "I want to advise letting me duel him considering the stakes, but I have a feeling that is not what you wish."

Jaden's body stiffened as his brown eyes narrowed.

Slipping from his lips was an uncharacteristic dark tone that said "It has to be me that duels him Haou, and only me. No last minute hijacking like you did in our duel with Zane. It is important that I am the one to challenge him and defeat him."

The spirit was left speechless at the boy's response. He could feel wave after wave of his partner's determined emotions seeping over their mental link. He knew this wasn't just a simple duel to Jaden; this was a duel that hinged on helping his best friend. Unconsciously, a ghost of a grin formed on his face. He couldn't help but be proud of the teen's determination.

"It would be dishonorable to not honor your wish." he replied as his form began to fade, returning to their shared soul room, "Very well, I will not interfere in your duel with Weevil. But do not forgot, this is still a duel you cannot afford to lose."

With the last of his words, he had disappeared. Jaden turned his head, gazing down at where Haou once stood beside him and a small grateful smile managing to appear on his face. He owed his thanks to the spirit and he would ensure that he would win the duel, both for his and Jesse's sake.

The next day the ship had finally at its destination. A large island filled with lush green woods, and the main attraction nestled at the docks' edge, at the top of a long stairway was an elegant castle. Jaden took in a deep breath as he made his way down the ship's ramp, his friends trailing behind him. All of them were stunned with the island's large size; it was hard to believe that Crowler managed to find and obtain such an island. Jaden couldn't help but be impressed, wondering if it would have been fun to arrive to such tournament without such horrible circumstances.

The instant the thought entered his head, he quickly shook it, banishing the thought from his mind. He didn't care about the reasons; he refused to throw away the one ideal he always upheld in his card games. Even though he was forced to come by his will, the teen was fully intent to have fun during his time on the island.

"Jaden, can you get your head out of the clouds for a sec?" Alexis spoke up whilst shaking the brunette's shoulder, stirring him from his thoughts, "The security guards are having everyone meet up at the castle gate."

"Oh right, sorry Lex?" he apologized with bashful grin.

Jesse couldn't help but smirk, making sure he gained enough distance from his two friends before calling back "Alexis, you and your boyfriend really should start get moving."

In that instant, Alexis's face turned blood red. Without any warning, she chased after the blue-haired teen, shouting angrily at him with her fists thrown up in the air. Worried about his best friend suffering from the age girl's wrath, Jaden quickly chased after them, leaving both Bastion and Atticus behind.

Bastion raised a brow at the sight. It was quite a strange sight to see how the trio of friends interacted with each other.

Wishing to satisfy his curiosity, he turned toward Atticus and asked "Does she normally get that angry?"

The older teen chuckled at the question, replying "Only when someone brings up her love life."

Without another word, the two began heading for the castle's gate.  
It only took a few minutes for the group of teens to reach the top of the stony stairway. Many teenagers were gathered around, nearly standing shoulder to shoulder in a small, yet decent sized crowd. Jaden couldn't help but open his mouth in awe till he felt someone accidentally bump into him. He turned his head to find himself facing a teen with black hair in a black coat. He watched as the teen's gray eyes widened in surprise before narrowing them and turning away from him.

He found himself puzzled over the teen's reaction, but before he could open his mouth to speak, one of the security guards announced, "Attention duelist, we shall now hear words from the host of this tournament, Mr. Vellian Crowler!"

Crowler emerged from within the castle, walking over to the edge of balcony with his jaw tightened in a forced smile.

His brow was nearly twitching as he said through clenched teeth, "We've been over this, it's Dr. Vellian Crowler." In an instant, he threw out his arms, his jaw no longer tightened as he proclaimed "Welcome duelists, to Duelist Kingdom! As you know I've invited the best of the best to participate in this glorious event where the winner shall have the honor of challenging me, the founder of Chronos Cogs, to a duel for glory and fame!"

Everyone in the crowd except for Jaden and his friends whispered among themselves, all eager to claim victory over the others.

"Now before you all run free with your excitement and eagerness," Crowler added slyly, causing all attention to be focused on him once more, "there is something you must know. As you know you challenge duelists in the form of wagers, betting your star chips. Now there's a catch to this. By betting one more star chip to the total you are betting in the duel, you can implement special rule sets. This rule sets can be along the lines of decreased life points, no direct attack, anything you want. Use these special conditions as much as you wish, but be careful, these same special conditions shall able to you as well."

With that said, all the participants began slipping on their gloves and placing the star chips in the empty slots designed for them. Jaden took in a deep breath, glancing down at the gold stars shimmering in the sunlight. Tilting his head upward once more, he could see Crowler was now staring directly at him. His body tensed in both anger and slight fear upon seeing the smile painted on the blonde-haired man's face that he wore when he threatened to take his friends. He could sense Haou's rage burning as well. There was no doubt the spirit had wished to redeem himself for his failure to win the match.

Crowler couldn't help but chuckle at the sight, muttering quietly to himself "So he came after all, the boy truly does fear for the safety of his friends."

He continued with a confident voice, "The finalists will have the chance of winning a special card made by me, as well as 30,000,000 yen and the possibility of getting a pro duelist license." Chatter of excitement rose from many of the participants "The tournament will start in one hour, use that time to prepare your deck properly because after that, you have 48 hours to win 10 star chips in order to participate in the finals".

Another chuckle erupted from his throat. He proudly wished good luck to all the participants before finally walking back into the castle. Though unlike his words, there was only one participant he was interested in seeing reach him, and that would be none other than the spirit dwelling within the Millennium Puzzle.

After Crowler's speech, the group of teenagers began looking through the decks before they dispersed in search of the perfect spots for dueling. An hour later the fireworks that signaled the start of the tournament was fired. Jaden and the others found themselves standing in the grassy fields watching them. Jaden's body trembled in excitement. He took in a deep breath with a calm smile. There was no doubt in their minds who Jaden wished to make his first opponent, and they were all eager to watch, all except one.

Atticus lingered slightly behind the group with a small frown on his face. He could feel warmth of energy radiating off the gold ring resting on his chest. Pulling open the collar of his shirt, he could see the ring was glowing softly. The prongs painfully biting into his skin, causing a bit of blood to bubble up. Biting his lip, he made up his mind as he let go of his collar.

Forming a slightly strained smile on his face, he spoke up "Well hope you guys have fun, I'm going to look for someone to duel myself. Good luck with your duel, Jaden!"

He was about to walk away until he heard Alexis questioned, "You're not going to watch, Atticus?"

Turning on his heel, he could see his sister staring at him in sadness. He couldn't blame for feeling that way. Jaden was going to duel against the boy that had stolen Jesse's Crystal Beasts, the brunette would need all the support he can get. But despite wanting to support the teen with all his heart, the growing warmth against his chest reminded him why he couldn't do that.

Coming up with an excuse, he replied "I would love to watch, but I'm too eager to duel myself. But don't worry, I promise to meet up with you guys later. Anyways, see ya then."

With the last of those words, he finally left, not letting anyone see the pained expression forming on his face as the energy within the ring grew with every second.

Alexis looked after her older brother with a troubled expression on her face, "What's wrong with Atti? He's acting strange". Her brother didn't seem like his usual self. There was just something odd; something that wasn't there before.

Jaden pursed his lips. Little to his surprise, he sensed Haou staring in the direction Atticus left. Taking a quick glance, he could already see the glimpse of the spirit's stern frown. His golden eyes carrying such intensity. " _I know that look on your face Haou, what's wrong?"_

Haou narrowed his eyes, " _I'm not really sure Jaden. For moment I swore I sensed a dark presence inside of Atticus. It was nearly suffocating."_

Jaden paled at these words. Suffocating darkness, those were truly bold words to come from his companion. Over the many months he had came to know the spirit, he has learned little could shake him. Haou was stern, blunt, and to the point. He was always carried a kingly aura in presence. Yet finding something that actually unnerved Haou was unsettling. Surely no such darkness could come from Atticus. The teen found himself stirred from his thoughts by a tap on his shoulder. He turned to see Jesse staring at him.

"So, what should we do Jaden? I mean, I can't really duel until we get my deck back". A pained tone could be heard in his voice.

The brunette turned around and started walking towards the forest. Glancing over his shoulder he flashed his friends a bright grin. "It's obvious isn't it? We're going to get your deck back! I'm finding Weevil and I'm going to beat him!"

The group of friends of friends grinned at each other before chasing after the fifteen year-old. The only one to linger behind was Bastion. He hummed in thought, stroking his chin. Jaden's camaraderie with the other teens was indeed strong. He was intrigued to how the battle with Weevil would unfold. With this in mind, he instantly entered a jog, catching up with the group. It only took them a few minutes to reach the the forest's entrance. Standing just outside of it was none other than Weevil.

Jaden narrowed his eyes and pointed at the boy whilst shouting "Weevil Underwood, I challenge you to a duel!" However Weevil simply smirked. Without a word, he turned around and ran in to the forest to everyone's shock.

Alexis angrily shouted, "Get back here right now Weevil! Don't you feel shame as a duelist by running away?"

Unlike his friend, the brunette took off running. He couldn't let Weevil get away. Glancing over his shoulder, he was relieved his friends were joining in the pursuit not too far behind him. Setting his focus ahead, he sensed Haou appear next to him, floating along with a stern gaze.

" _I suppose I don't have to tell you that he is most likely leading us in to a trap right?"_ the spirit noted.

Jaden nodded his head, " _Yeah, that's the feeling I have too. I mean, that look on his face before he ran away, it was like he was planning something. But still, I need to get Jesse's deck back"._ Haou nodded his head, he could feel Jaden's determination as he spoke before disappearing once more.

The group continued to pursue the young duelist. It only took them a few minutes to reach a small clearing. The trees limbs hanging low, surrounding them with its greenery. Weevil stopped at the other end, turning towards Jaden with a chuckle.

"Thank you for following me all the way here Jaden Yuki. Here, in the forest, I'm unbeatable! I can't to beat the person who defeated Zane Truesdale." he exclaimed confidentially.

The teen in red responded with a grin whilst pointing his right hand at Weevil, "Yeah about that, I got some bad news for you Weevil. I'm going to win this duel and take back Jesse's deck!"

Weevil however just chuckled as the ground suddenly began shaking. Jaden and the others looked down shocked, wondering if it was an earthquake. The ground opened up and a large arena rose out of the ground. Jaden's eyes widened in shock. He immediately recognized it as the same holographic Dueling Arena that Truesdale Corp had developed. Recalling back to his duel with Zane, it had been mentioned that the technology had been sold to different leagues and companies that held tournaments. Despite this, he didn't expect to find one here on this Island.

Weevil turned towards one of the platforms while he looked at Jaden over his shoulder with a confident smirk on his face. "Now, let's do this Jaden Yuki." He ran over to the platform and jumped up on it. The platform lifted him up so he stood in front of the display table.

Jaden recovered from his shock and ran over to the other platform. He jumped up on it and was lifted up in front of the display table on his side.

Weevil looked at his opponent and chuckled, "Alright, since I already eliminated the threat of the Crystal Beasts, if I also eliminate the one who beat the undefeated Zane Truesdale, winning this tournament will be easy".

Jaden narrowed his eyes, "I don't think so Weevil, not only will I take back the Jesse's deck, I'll also take both of your star chips".

The glasses wearing boy was shocked before he let out a mocking laugh, "And why should I bet both my star chips as well as the Crystal Beasts?" Jesse, Bastion and Alexis all glared at him. The young boy was far too arrogant for their tastes, especially since he only managed to get Jesse's desk with underhanded means.

Jaden took out his deck from his deck box and looked through it before he grabbed two cards and revealed them, "Because if you bet them, then I will bet not only my Gandora the Dragon of Destruction, but also the card I used to defeat Zane, Gandora-X the Dragon of Demolition!"

Weevil's eyes widened in shock when he heard the name of the cards before a smirk appeared on his face, "Well, would you look at that, two really powerful and extremely rare cards and one of them was used to defeat Truesdale. Fine then, I accept the bet".

Jaden got a smirk on his face and put both of his Gandoras into his deck. He shuffled it before placing it down, "Also let's play by the original rules, no tampering with the rules like Crowler said. However since we both are betting all of our star chips, I guess we wouldn't be able to anyway".

Weevil chuckled while placing down his own deck, "That doesn't matter, I won't need any kind of special rules in order to defeat you anyway Jaden Yuki." Alexis glared at him when she heard him say that since she realized that he was looking down at Jaden.

Jaden and Weevil then drew their first five cards and the holographic display system got activated and Jaden got shocked that it was an identical replicate of the surrounding area around them.

Haou appeared next to Jaden with a shocked expression on his face _, "The field is the same as the surrounding? Do you think that's why he led us in to the forest?"_ Haou asked Jaden mentally and looked at him.

Jaden widened his eyes in realization when he heard that, _"That's it! We did suspect that he must've led us here for a reason, the different field must have some kind of effects on the different monster types!"_ Jaden exclaimed mentally as he looked at the field before his eyes stopped at a certain part on his side.

Jaden placed his fingers on his deck while he looked at Weevil, "I'll make the first move Weevil". Weevil just nodded his head with a smirk still on his face.

Jaden drew his next card and looked at it, he then placed it in his hand and placed it in face down defense mode on the display table in front of him, "I place a monster face down in defense mode and end my turn". A spot in front of him began to blink yellow.

Weevil chuckled while he placed his fingers on his deck, "Is that the best you can do?" He drew his next card and looked at it, "As for me, I'll go on the offensive by summoning Flying Kamakiri #2 in attack mode". Flying Kamakiri then appeared on the field, Atk: 1500.

Weevil then laughed as he held out his arms, "And now, let me explain about a special rule that Crowler didn't mentioned earlier but I managed to find out about ahead of time, you see if you play your monsters correctly in the right field, they'll gain a field power bonus of 30% of their original attack and defense points". Flying Kamakiri #2, Atk & Def: 1500-1950/800-1040.

Jesse gritted his teeth when he saw Flying Kamakiri #2's power increase, "So that's why he led us in to the forest, so that his insect monsters would gain a power bonus from the forest!"

Weevil then pointed at Jaden's face down monster, "Alright Flying Kamakiri, attack his face down monster now!" Flying Kamakiri #2 flew towards Jaden's side and lifted one of his scythe like arms.

However Weevil got shocked on his face when he saw Jaden's smile as he grabbed his face down monster, "You're too reckless Weevil, my face down monster… is Elemental Hero Clayman!" He flipped it face up and a large stone warrior with a small red head appeared on the field and blocked Flying Kamakiri #2's scythe arm, Def: 2000.

Jaden then pointed at Clayman who was placed on the meadow field, "And since Clayman is a warrior type monster, he gains a field power bonus". Clayman, Atk & Def: 800-1040/2000-2600. Weevil got a horrified expression on his face as he watched Clayman push Flying Kamakiri #2 back, Weevil LP: 4000-3350.

Alexis got a smile on her face, "Alright! Good thing that Jaden had Clayman in his first hand". She looked at Jesse and Bastion and both boys looked at her with smiles and nodded their heads.

Weevil glared at Jaden frustrated, "There is no way you could've known that your Clayman would get a field power bonus from the meadow field". Weevil refused to believe that Jaden had played Clayman there on purpose.

Jaden's smile got a bit troubled and he scratched himself in the head, "Honestly, I did expect something to happen but didn't know exactly what would happen".

Jaden looked down at the display table in front of him with a serious expression on his face, "And if you wonder how I figured out that something would happen, it's thanks to this holographic display system. It displayed two different kind of fields that gives advantage to different types of monsters, and as far I can tell, this island have most of the fields that affects the different monster types." Jaden explained with a serious expression tone in his voice.

Jaden looked at Weevil once again with a smirk on his face, "Which is why you lead us in to the forest, you wished to get to a field that would benefit your insects in order to beat me before I got the chance to find out about the field power bonus". Jaden looked up at Weevil again and saw that he was really angry.

Weevil gritted his teeth and closed his eyes, "I'll end my turn now, now hurry up and make your move loser". He wasn't going to lose this duel after leading them to the forest in order to get the upper hand.

Alexis got an angry expression on her face, "How dare he call Jaden a loser? He has skills that can match a lot of the duelist in the pro league". She always hated when people underestimated Jaden.

Jesse looked at her with a smirk on his face, "I know, and unfortunately for Weevil, he's about to learn that the hard way".

Jaden placed his fingers on his deck, "My turn, I draw". He drew his next card and looked at it, "I summon Elemental Hero Sparkman in attack mode". A warrior in blue and yellow armor appeared on the field, Atk: 1600.

Jaden's smirk then grew bigger, "And now thanks to the meadow field, he gets a field power bonus". Sparkman, Atk & Def: 1600-2080/1400-1820.

Jaden then grabbed Clayman's card, "And next I switch Clayman to attack mode". Clayman then stood up and held up his fists, Atk: 1040.

Jaden then pointed at Flying Kamakiri #2, "Now Sparkman, attack his Flying Kamakiri with Static Shockwave!" Sparkman gathered electricity in his hand and unleashed it towards Flying Kamakiri #2 the bug screeched for a second as the electricity went through its body before it got destroyed, Weevil LP: 3350-3220.

Jaden then pointed at Weevil, "Alright Clayman, it's your turn now, attack Weevil's life points directly with Clay Clobberer!" Clayman raised his right fist and rammed it in to the platform Weevil was standing on causing him to shield his face from the shockwaves, Weevil LP: 3220-2180.

Jaden looked at his hand before he grabbed two cards in his hand, "Next I place two cards face down and end my turn". Two spots behind Clayman and Sparkman began to glow yellow.

Alexis got an excited smile on her face, "Alright, Jaden has almost wiped out half of Weevil's life points already. Just a little more and your Crystal Beasts will be back with you Jesse". She looked at Jesse while she spoke with a confident voice.

Jesse however narrowed his eyes, "I don't know, I'm glad that Jaden has gotten an early lead, however we shouldn't underestimate Weevil. I'm sure he has a few tricks up his sleeves". Alexis got a worried expression when she heard Jesse and looked at Jaden again.

Weevil placed his fingers on his deck, "It's my move now". He drew his next card and looked at it. He then turned the card around, "I activate Pot of Greed which lets me draw twice more".

Weevil drew two more cards and looked at them, he then placed one of them in face down defense mode, "I place one monster in face down defense mode and then…" As a spot of him began to blink yellow so did he place a card face down, "I place one card face down and end my turn". The spot behind the blinking monster zone began glowing yellow as well.

Jaden narrowed his eyes, _A face down monster and a face down card? What is he planning?_ Jaden thought to himself with a cautious expression on his face since he knew that Weevil usually used strategies rather than force like Rex Raptor did.

Jaden placed his fingers on his deck, "It's my turn then". He drew his next card and looked at it, "I summon Lancer Lindwurm in attack mode". Lancer Lindwurm then appeared on the field and aimed his lance at Weevil's face down monster, Atk: 1800.

Weevil chuckled which then developed in to a laugh, "You fool, you fell for it! Since you summoned a monster, my trap card Parasite Worm activates!"

A large worm with a circle mouth full of sharp teeth appeared on the field. It then jumped towards Lancer Lindwurm while it opened its mouth and swallowed Lancer Lindwurm whole. A few seconds later the worm self-destructed.

Jaden had both a confused and a somewhat disgusted expression on his face over what had just happened, Jaden LP: 4000-2200.

Weevil chuckled when he saw the shocked expression on Jaden's face, "I can see that you don't know Parasite Worm's effect, you see when you summon a monster, that monster is destroyed and you take damage equal to its attack points".

Jaden gritted his teeth before he looked at his hand. He then looked at Weevil's face down monster before he narrowed his eyes, "Sparkman, attack his face down monster now with Static Shockwave".

Sparkman unleashed electricity from his hand towards the face down monster and hit it. However the next second, a large pink larvae creature jumped towards Sparkman and wrapped itself around him, it then lifted its tail and it sunk in to his head and Sparkman groaned in pain.

Jaden got a disgusted expression on his face before he asked, "What is that thing?"

Weevil chuckled with an evil smirk on his face, "That's Kiseitai. When he's attacked while in face down defense mode, he equips himself to the monster that attacked him and then I'll gain life points equal to half of the equipped monster's attack points during each one of your standby phases". He explained with a satisfied tone in his voice.

Jaden's eyes widened in shock, "Say what?" Jaden couldn't believe his ears, it would mean that Weevil would gain 1040 life points during each one of Jaden's standby phases unless he either got rid of Kiseitai or somehow got Sparkman off of the field.

Jaden gritted his teeth before he pointed at Weevil, "Now Clayman, attack him directly with Clay Clobberer!" He knew that it would be pointless to attack with Clayman, however he still felt like he needed to do something".

Clayman pulled his fist back and slammed it in to Weevil's platform once again, Weevil LP: 2180-1140. Jaden looked at his hand. He got a troubled expression on his face before he looked up at Weevil, "I… end my turn".

Alexis got a troubled expression on her face, "Oh no, now unless Jaden manage to inflict over 1040 points of damage to Weevil, all damage he inflicts be restored once Jaden's next turn begins". She had a worried tone in her voice and she could see that both Jesse and Bastion looked just as troubled as she was.

Weevil placed her fingers on his deck and drew his next card and looked at it, a smirk then appeared on his face, "Perfect, I now summon Chainsaw Insect in attack mode". A large insect with chainsaws for pincers appeared on the field while the chainsaws began spinning, Atk: 2400.

Weevil chuckled, "And now thanks to the forest, he'll gain a massive field power bonus". Chainsaw Insect, Atk: 2400-3120.

Jaden gritted his teeth, "A monster with over 3000 attack points?" He knew that Weevil wouldn't attack Sparkman, why would he destroy Sparkman when he would gain life points during each one of Jaden's standby phases as long as he remained on the field, not to mentioned that he also had Clayman in attack mode.

Weevil then pointed at Clayman with a wide grin on his face, "Now Chainsaw Insect, attack his Elemental Hero Clayman". Chainsaw Insect then jumped towards Clayman while the chainsaws began to spin once again and then he squeezed him with them.

Clayman groaned in pain as the chainsaws cut away pieces of his body before Chainsaw Insect cut him in half, destroying him, forcing Jaden to shield his face from the shockwaves, Jaden LP: 2200-120.

Weevil laughed like a maniac, "You're now down to below 200 life points. Just one more attack and you're done for! However, because of Chainsaw Insect's effect, whenever he attacks another monster or are attacked, you're allowed to draw one card".

Jaden got a shocked expression on his face when he heard that, he then took and drew a card from his deck and looked at it. He narrowed his eyes and then placed it in his hand. Grabbing one of his face down cards and he flipped it face up, revealing it was a trap card with the image of a spotlight with the letter H in the sky,

"I activate the trap card Hero Signal! Since you destroyed Clayman in battle, I can special summon a level 4 or below Elemental Hero from my deck".

Jaden grabbed his deck and looked through it before he grabbed a card in it before he shuffled the deck again and placed it down on the display table again.

"I summon Elemental Hero Lady Heat in defense mode". A female monster in red and white armor with orange spiky hair appeared on a knee next to Sparkman, Def: 1000.

Jaden looked at Weevil, "Unfortunately Lady Heat a pyro type, which means that she won't gain a field power bonus from the meadow field". He explained to Weevil.

Weevil chuckled, "That little girl won't help you Yuki". He then grabbed a card in his hand, "Next, I end my turn by placing one card face down on the field". He placed a card face down on the display table and the spot behind Chainsaw Insect began to glowing yellow.

Jaden placed a finger on his deck and then drew his next card and looked at it. The next second Sparkman's eyes under the helmet glowed yellow. Weevil LP: 1140-2180.

Weevil chuckled, "There is nothing you can do, my life points will keep increasing while yours will keep decreasing."

Jaden however got a smirk on his face, "Actually, I got just what I needed. I now activate Polymerization!"

Jaden then grabbed another card in his hand, "Now I fuse Elemental Hero Sparkman with my Elemental Hero Necroshade in order Fusion Summon Elemental Hero Escuridao in attack mode".

Necroshade appeared next to Sparkman and then both of them got sucked in to a vortex that appeared behind them and Escuridao then appeared out of it, Atk: 2500.

Jaden got a smirk on his face, "Now thanks to the field power bonus, Escuridao will get a nice power boost". Escuridao, Atk & Def: 2500-3250/2000-2600.

Jaden then pointed at Escuridao, "And next thanks to his special ability, he also gains 100 attack points for all the Elemental Heroes in my graveyard, and I currently have three there". Jaden explained with confidence while Escuridao got surrounded by a dark blue aura, Atk: 3250-3550.

Jaden then flipped his face down card face up and it was a spell card with an image of a large letter E on it, "Next, I activate the spell card E – Emergency Call, which allows me to add an Elemental Hero from my deck to my hand".

Jaden grabbed his deck and looked through it before he grabbed a monster in it with a huge smile on his face, "You'll be finished this turn, and that's because I now have Necroshade in my graveyard".

Weevil got a troubled expression on his face since he didn't like the confidence he heard in Jaden's voice when he said that, "What are you talking about?" Weevil tried to make sure that Jaden wouldn't hear the growing panic in his voice.

Jaden shuffled his deck and placed it down again while he held up the card he had added to his hand, "If I have Elemental Hero Necroshade in my graveyard, I can summon an Elemental Hero without sacrificing anything, like my Elemental Hero Bladedge in attack mode". Bladedge then appeared on the field, Atk. 2600.

Jaden then held out his hand towards him, "And thanks to the meadow field, his power grows even higher as well". Bladedge, Atk & Def: 2600-3380/1800-2340.

Jaden grabbed Lady Heat's card and flipped it, "And next, I change Elemental Hero Lady Heat to attack mode". Lady got up on her feet, Atk: 1300.

Jaden pointed at Chainsaw Insect, "Now Elemental Hero Escuridao, attack his Chainsaw insect with Dark Diffusion". The blade on Escuridao's arm began to glow dark blue before he fired a blast of energy towards Chainsaw Insect and destroyed it, Weevil LP: 2180-1750.

Jaden placed his fingers on his deck, "And next, since I attacked Chainsaw Insect, I can draw one card". Jaden drew his next card and looked at it.

Jaden then pointed at Weevil, "This duel is over, now Bladedge, attack his life points directly with Slice and Dice Attack". Bladedge flew towards Weevil while he pulled his right backwards.

Weevil however flipped his face down card and it was a trap card with an image of a gate with a dragon coming out of it, blocking another monster's attack, "I activate the trap card Counter Gate!"

Jaden widened his eyes in shock when he saw how a force field appeared in front of Weevil that blocked and repelled Bladedge, "What just happened?" He asked Weevil confused.

Weevil narrowed his eyes at Jaden while he placed his fingers on his deck, "I can activate Counter Gate when you declare a direct attack, first it negates the attack and then I can draw one card, and if it's a monster card so can I summon it".

He looked down on his deck and drew his next card and looked at it, a smirk appeared on his face, "Perfect, I now summon Pinch Hopper in attack mode". Pinch Hopper appeared on the field, Atk: 1000.

Weevil held out his hand towards Pinch Hopper, "And thanks to the forest, he's now just as strong as your Lady Heat". Pinch Hopper, Atk & Def: 1000-1300/1200-1560.

Weevil looked at Jaden with a smirk on his face, "Well now, are you going to attack me and destroy both of our monsters?" He did actually want Jaden to attack Pinch Hopper so that he could use his ability.

Jaden narrowed his eyes, "You would like that, wouldn't you Weevil? Unfortunately I know about Pinch Hopper's special ability, so that won't happen".

Jaden then looked at his hand and then grabbed two cards and placed them face down, "Next, I place two cards face down and end my turn".

Weevil was about to place his fingers on his deck when he saw how Lady Heat gathered fire in her hands. Lady Head then fired three fire balls at him that hit his platform, Weevil LP: 1750-1150.

Weevil narrowed his eyes and then shouted, "What just happened? Why did I just lose 600 life point Yuki?"

Jaden looked at Weevil with a smirk, "At the end phase of my turn, Elemental Hero Lady Heat inflicts 200 points of damage to the opponent for every Elemental Hero on my field, which is why I said it would be over this turn. Even if you had a card that could negate one of my attacks, I could finish this duel with Lady Heat's attack and effect, I never expected that your card would allow you to summon a monster". Jaden explain before he sighed, disappointed that he hadn't been able to end the duel.

Weevil placed his fingers on his deck, "It's my turn now". He drew his next card and looked at it, "I'll start with Graceful Charity, which lets me draw three cards as long as I discard two".

Weevil drew three more cards and looked at them, he smirk appeared on his face, he then grabbed one of the three cards and a card in his hand. He then revealed one of them and it a black ladybug with a skull on its back, "Both of the cards I'll send to my graveyard is Skull Mark Ladybugs, which means that I'll gain 1000 life points for each". He placed both of the Skull Mark Ladybug in his graveyard, Weevil LP: 1150-3150.

Weevil then placed the other two cards in to his hand and then grabbed another card, "Next, I activate the spell card Multiplication of Ant, which allows me to sacrifice my Pinch Hopper which allows me to special summon two Army Ant Tokens". Weevil said with a smirk on his face as he revealed a spell card with the image of multiple green ants.

Pinch Hopper then shattered and two large green ants appeared on the field, Def x 2: 1200.

Weevil chuckled when he saw the worried expression on Jaden's face, "I see that you know the real reason for why I did this, since my Pinch Hopper was sent to the graveyard, I can special summon any insect monster from my hand, like my Insect Queen". Then a large insect with six legs and a large red lower body appeared on the field, Atk: 2200.

Weevil laughed, "And next, both my Army Ant Tokens and my Insect Queen get a field power bonus". Army Ant Token, Atk & Def x 2: 500-650/1200-1560. Insect Queen, Atk & Def: 2200-2860/2400-3120.

Weevil then held out his hand towards Insect Queen while he chuckled with a confident expression on his face, "And next, my Insect Queen gains 200 extra attack points for every insect monster on the field, including herself". Insect Queen let out a loud screech, Atk: 2860-3460.

Weevil then grabbed two cards in his hand while he looked at Jaden with a cruel smirk on his face and said, "And while I could finish you right now, I want to completely crush you, and I know the perfect way to do it".

Weevil then revealed one of the cards he had grabbed and it was a spell card with the image of a laser cannon with shoulder armor attached to it, "First I equip one of my Army Ant Tokens with Laser Cannon Armor, which increases its attack and defense points by 300". The Laser Cannon Armor then appeared on one of the Army Ant Tokens, Atk & Def: 650-950/1560-1860.

Jaden narrowed his eyes, "Why would you equip that card to one of your Army Ant Tokens instead of your Insect Queen?" It would've made more sense to Jaden if Weevil had equipped it to Insect Queen instead because of the fact that Weevil needed to sacrifice another monster in order for her to attack.

Weevil chuckled as he revealed the other card which was a spell card with the image of a golden cocoon with spider webs attached to it, "This is why, I now activate the spell card Cocoon of Ultra Evolution! This spell card allows me to sacrifice an insect monster anywhere on the field that has an equip card on it and then I can special summon an insect from my deck, ignoring its summoning condition".

Jaden's eyes widened in shock, "Say what? But… but does that mean…? Jaden knew that Weevil had one monster with really high attack points, however its summoning condition was really hard to fulfill, which was why it wasn't seen often.

Weevil's smirk grew when he saw the worried expression on Jaden's face, "Looks like you know what I'm planning to summon, now I sacrifice my Army Ant Token in order to summon Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth in attack mode".

The equipped Army Ant Token shattered and a large green moth with fangs and large purple wings with circles on them, Atk: 3500.

Weevil then let out an insane laugh, "And thanks to the forest, he'll gain a massive power bonus!" Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth, Atk & Def: 3500-4550/3000-3900.

Jesse gritted his teeth, "4550 attack points?" He must've been planning this for a while now".

Alexis looked at Jaden worried, however she got a little relieved when he saw the determined expression on Jaden's face, "However, it seems like Jaden has something planned, otherwise he wouldn't have a determined expression like that on his face". She looked at Jesse while she said that.

Jesse and Bastion both looked at Jaden and saw the expression on his face, they both looked at Alexis while Jesse got a smirk on his face, "You're right, I'm guessing that at least one of those two face down cards can save Jaden". Bastion nodded as he agreed with both of them.

Weevil pointed at Jaden, "This is the end for you Yuki, you can't survive even one attack since you only have 120 life points left".

Jaden grabbed one of his face down cards, "Well then, I guess I'll just have to change that, and I can do that with my Elemental Recharge". Jaden exclaimed as he flipped it face up and it was a trap card with the image of a generator on it.

Jaden got a smile on his face when he saw the expression of confusion on Weevil's face, "You see, thanks to Elemental Recharge, I'll 1000 life points for every Elemental Hero I have on the field, and with three, I'll gain 3000 life points". Jaden explained while his smile grew, Jaden LP: 120-3120.

Weevil gritted his teeth before he grabbed a card in his hand, "I summon Leghul in defense mode". A large purple earwig appeared on the field, Def: 350. Basic Insect, Atk & Def: 300-390/350-455.

Weevil looked at Jaden, "And next thanks to Leghul, Insect Queen gains another 200 attack points". Insect Queen, Atk: 3460-3660.

Weevil then pointed at Escuridao, "Now Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth, attack his Escuridao now!" Great Moth began flapping his wings, creating a strong gust of wind aimed at Escuridao.

Jaden however flipped his remaining face down card which was a trap card with the image of Sparkman being hit by a beam of energy and a different shadow appearing behind him.

"I was planning on using this to save Lady Heat in case you attacked her, however using it now is better. I activate the trap card Soul Union! Thanks to this trap card, I can target one Elemental Hero on my field and another Elemental Hero in my graveyard, and then the Elemental Hero on my field gain attack points equal to the attack points of the one in my graveyard".

Weevil's eyes widened in shock when he heard that before Jaden took out a card from his graveyard and he revealed it to be Sparkman, "So now, Escuridao gains attack points equal to Sparkman's attack points".

Sparkman appeared in spirit form before he turned in to white energy and flew in to Escuridao's body, Escuridao, Atk: 3550-5150.

Weevil widened his eyes in shock and horror as he saw how Escuridao repelled Great Moth's attacked before the blade on his arm began to glow dark blue.

Jaden pointed at Great Moth and exclaimed, "Escuridao, counterattack! Strike down his Perfectly Ultimate Great with Dark Diffusion". Escuridao then fired a blast from the blade on his arm towards Great Moth that went straight through his body, destroying him, Weevil LP: 3150-2550.

Weevil had a looked of disbelief on his face, "No way… my moth… my precious Great Moth…" He said with a low voice.

Jaden looked at Weevil, "You know what this means, right Weevil? This duel is over now". Weevil looked at Jaden shocked when he heard that.

Jaden then continued with a calm voice, "You're strongest monster has already been defeated, and even if you attack me with your Insect Queen, you won't be able reduce my life points to zero, and then at the end phase of your turn, an Insect Monster Token will be summoned to your side of the field in attack mode. And since it only has 100 attack points, if I were to attack it, you would lose the rest of your points".

Weevil gritted his teeth, he knew that Jaden were right, however he refused to just give up like this".

Weevil gritted his teeth and pointed at his Leghul, "Now, I sacrifice my Leghul so that my Insect Queen can attack". Insect Queen lowered her head and sank her teeth in to Leghul before she slowly began to devour -him, Insect Queen, Atk: 3660-3460.

Alexis turned away her head since she didn't want to watch Leghul get devoured and Jesse had a disgusted expression on his face, "Alright, that's the most disturbing thing I've ever seen". Bastion nodded his head with a disgusted expression on his own face.

Weevil pointed at Lady Heat, "Now Insect Queen, attack his Elemental Hero Lady Heat". Jaden could hear the anger in Weevil's voice as he declared the attack and then Insect Queen unleashed a green blast from her mouth that destroyed Lady Heat. Jaden LP: 3120-960.

Weevil closed his eyes and gritted his teeth, "I end my turn, and just like you said, an Insect Monster Token will now be summoned to my field". Insect Queen then laid an egg, Atk: 100. Insect Monster Token, Atk & Def: 100-130/100-130. Insect Queen, Atk: 3460-3660.

Jaden closed his eyes and sighed before he placed his fingers on his deck and drew his next card and looked at it, "I activate the spell card Pot of Greed, so I draw two more cards".

Jaden then drew two more cards and looked at them, he then revealed one of them and it was a spell card with the image of two monsters being sucked in to a vortex with a large H in the middle.

"I activate the spell card Miracle Fusion! Now I can Fusion Summon an Elemental Hero by removing the materials from my field and my graveyard". Jaden explained while he picked up two cards from his graveyard.

Jaden revealed the cards and it was Elemental Hero Sparkman and Elemental Hero Clayman, "Now I remove Sparkman and Clayman in order to Fusion Summon Elemental Hero The Shining in attack mode".

Jaden placed Clayman and Sparkman next to his graveyard, then a monster with white and red armor with a large ring with four spikes floating next to it on each side of it appeared on the field, Atk: 2600.

Jaden then pointed at The Shining and said, "And next, The Shining gains a field power bonus from the meadow field". The Shining, Atk & Def: 2600-3380/2100-2730.

Jaden got a smile on his face, "Not only that, but he also gains 300 attack points for each one of my Elemental Heroes that's removed from the game and since there is two, he'll gain 600 more attack points". The Shining, Atk: 3380-3980.

Jaden looked at Escuridao and said, "Of course, since I have two less Elemental Heroes in the grave, Escuridao loses 200 attack points". Escuridao, Atk: 5150-4950.

Weevil gritted his teeth when he saw this, however he then saw how Jaden grabbed another card in his hand, "Jaden then revealed a spell card with what looked like a green mask with feathers, "And next, I activate the spell card Hero Mask, which allows me to target a monster on the field, then by sending an Elemental Hero from my deck to the graveyard, the target monster's name becomes the name of the Elemental Hero sent to my graveyard". Jaden explained with a calm voice while he grabbed his deck.

Jaden looked through his deck before he grabbed one card in it, he revealed the card and it was a green Elemental Hero with wings, "I send Elemental Hero Avian to my graveyard in order to treat The Shining as Avian". Jaden declared while he placed Avian in his graveyard before he shuffled his deck and placed it down again.

Jaden then grabbed the last card in his hand while he looked at Weevil with a serious expression on his face, "Normally, I wouldn't do this since I already know the outcome of the duel, however due to what you did to Jess, you need to be taught a lesson". Jaden said as he revealed that it was a spell card with the image of Avian shooting three feathers.

"I activate the spell card Feather Shot, this card allows Elemental Hero Avian to attack once for every monster on my field, of course no one of my other monsters can attack after I activate this card".

Weevil gritted his teeth while Jaden pointed at Insect Queen, "Now Elemental Hero The Shining, attack Insect Queen with Optical Storm!" A bright light came out of the ring on The Shining's back and hit Insect Queen and she got destroyed, Weevil LP: 2550- 2230.

Jaden then pointed at the Army Ant Token and said, "Next, his Army Ant Token". A bright light came out of the ring on The Shining's back and it hit the Army Ant Token and destroyed it.

Jaden then turned towards the Insect Monster Token, "And now to finish this. Elemental Hero the Shining, attack his Insect Monster Token with Optical Storm and end this duel". A bright light came out of the ring on The Shining's back for the third time and it hit the egg and destroyed it.

Weevil sank down on his knees with tears in his eyes, "This… this is impossible!" Weevil said in disbelief, Weevil LP: 2230-0.

The teal-haired boy's mouth hung ajar. Everything had been perfect; the whole duel was suppose to fall in his favor. He couldn't even move as the platform was lowered to the ground. By the time he lifted up his head once more, Jaden and his friends stood before him.  
Jaden stared sternly down, sighing in slight disappointment.

"I really wished we dueled on better terms. It was pretty fun to duel against you." the brunette began, "You are a pretty cool duelist Weevil, but did you really have to resort to such tactics as stealing my friend's deck?"

Weevil clenched his teeth in rage, immediately jumping up on his feet to glare up at the teen.

"Of course I did, you think I'm here to have fun?! No! Dueling isn't about having fun, it's about crushing your opponents and claiming the glory that comes with it! What's even the point of dueling if you're not in it to win it?"

Jaden's brows furrowed at this answer. He expected such a response, but it was still disheartening. Weevil had so much potential, just like anyone else. But because he was focused more on winning, he missed the finer details. Such a mindset was never satisfying. One who only wants to win all the time is never content; they feel the need to keep gaining victories. But when a battle is lost, Jaden was seeing the very example of it before him. Unfortunately he knew there was nothing he could say to Weevil to change his mind, the boy was too stubborn.

Taking in a deep inhale, he replied "I'm sorry you think that way. Well a deal is a deal." He held out his hand. "I'll be taking those star chips and my friend's deck back now."

Knowing there was nothing else he could do, Weevil grumbled under his breath, fetching the deck out of his pocket. He slapped it into Jaden's palm along with his two star chips. With hunched shoulders, he grumbled under his breath as he stormed. After all, those who lost their star chips were forced to head back to the docks to leave the island.  
Turning his attention away from Weevil, Jaden faced Jesse with a smile.

"Here's your deck back, Jesse."

Jesse didn't say anything as he accepted his decks. No words were needed as the gratefulness was clearly beaming on his face.

"I must say, that duel was truly outstanding!" Bastion complimented, "Seeing your dueling tactics in person has indeed made me eager at the opportunity to duel you in the future."

Jaden chuckled slightly whilst rubbing his neck "Thanks, though I still feel bad that Atticus missed out on the whole thing. I wonder how his duel is going?"

On the other side of the island, a duelist collapsed to the ground. Their eyes were wide open and lifeless. Standing over their body was Atticus. He chuckled darkly, flipping around a single card in his fingers. Carried in his eyes was a dark and malicious glint. Resting against his chest, out in the open, was the Millennium Ring which was alight with its golden glow.

" **Mortals are just such fragile things.** "


End file.
